Broken Britain may feel like it is supping the dregs of a long-stale pint, but never fear. Al Murray, The Pub Landlord, is returning to top up our glasses.
Britain's most ebullient innkeeper is back, serving up his five-star brew of ale-inspired acumen and bar-room buffoonery, dishing out pints and philosophy in equal measure on his monumental The Only Way Is Epic tour.
Al says his highly successful, twice-extended Barrel of Fun tour last year really helped him regain his love of touring. "I went to places I'd never been before, and it was brilliant fun. The extent to which people really got it and allowed me to run with the joke as far as I wanted to run with it was enough to completely recharge my batteries.
"What I love is that it's different every night. I want the audience to feel that tonight's the night, and unlike any other show. They know that they are getting a 100% effort from me, rather than feeling that it's just another routine evening.
"In a way I'm hugely envious of comedians who have the patience to do the same stuff every night. But God knows how they do it – I'd go crazy. It means much more to make every show unique. That's what an audience brings to it."
The key to the Landlord is that even though he thinks he is talking perfect sense, he is, of course, usually spouting complete nonsense.
"I have no issue with nonsense," laughs Al. "The Landlord has to defeat himself. He always manages to tie himself in knots with his arguments. Some people say the act is rabble-rousing and think audiences take it at face value. But he is a dribbling, self-contradictory idiot, so I don't mind if people take that at face value."
Al admits that even now the occasional audience member gets the wrong end of the stick and thinks that the Landlord is the fount of all wisdom.
"There are still one or two who don't get it. You think, 'what on earth are they agreeing with – all those mental hallucinations and contradictions?' But if they want to agree with it, good luck to them!"
So what themes will the Landlord be tackling in this new show? Broken Britain will, of course, feature very prominently. Al observes that, "The idea of Broken Britain chimes with the Landlord. The Broken Britain narrative is to say simultaneously that this is the greatest country in the world and that we're rubbish.
"The Landlord can hold that contradiction in his hand. I admire the backflip required to achieve that. It lets you approach things from any angle, and proves itself over and over again. You can contradict yourself in back-to-back sentences, and contradictions are always funny."
As a climax to the show, Al reveals, "the Landlord will attempt to save the country. The audience will end up completely liberated as a new people living in a new Britain. It's about rescuing Britain from itself. The Landlord thinks that we can't go on blaming the government for everything. It's not like football, where you can always blame the manager."
Al's passion for live comedy remains undimmed. "I never think, 'God, how can I fill the show?' That's never a problem," he says.
Al Murray The Pub Landlord's The Only Way is Epic is at the Babbacombe Theatre, Torquay, tonight (sold out, check box office for returns) and Plymouth Pavilions on June 19.
