FOLLOWING a sold out and critically acclaimed run at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, Paul Foot is on an extensive UK tour of his new show, "Image Conscious"and is striding into Hampshire.

Tonight you can catch him at Forest Arts, New Milton.

He then visits Hanger Farm, Southampton on Friday September 28 and The Spring, Havant on Saturday October 13.

For the uninitiated Paul Foot is undoubtedly perplexing; his absurdist clowning is confusing and amusing in equal measure, but it’s wonderfully

crafted nonsense nonetheless.

As entertaining as ever, his signature awkward movements, invasion of audience members’ personal space and comical rants are out in full force in ‘Image Conscious’.

He quips about some of his likes and dislikes, with his aversion to Masterchef and, in particular, host Gregg Wallace, hitting the right notes with his audience. Much of the show, however, centres on the complexities of organising a suburban orgy; from canapés to who the guests should be; 1980s snooker legends are high on his list! It is as weird as it sounds, but from Foot you wouldn’t want it any other way.

Foot is known for his musings, rants, "disturbances" and apparent aversion to pop culture. The Daily Express likened him to "a rare exotic bird", and six national newspapers including The Independent and The Age have described him as "a comedy genius".

Foot studied mathematics at Merton College, Oxford where he first started performing stand-up. As of 2011, Foot has refused to discuss his years at Oxford or former pursuits as a mathematics student. Graduating from Oxford in 1995, he was head-hunted by a computer software company in the run-up to the dot-com bubble, however he loathed the industry: "I had to read manuals on HTML and just write websites from scratch. None of us really knew what we were doing".He started to pursue a career in comedy by doing open mic slots at various venues.

In 2003, Foot and Russell Brand appeared in a double act at Cafe Royal. Foot's style of comedy had a strong influence on Brand, who was inspired by Foot's eccentric hair, quirky mannerisms and love for florid language.

Although a sector of Foot's fan base felt Brand had stolen Foot's act, the two comedians have remained friends.