April 12, 2001 17:11: The catchphrase-tastic comedy, The Fast Show has, dare I say it, changed common speech forever. Now it is impossible to shop for new clothes without someone saying "suits you, sir" or "does my bum look big in this?"

Waxing lyrical about the good old days inevitably ends with at least one round of "small boys in the park, hmmmm, jumpers for goal posts".

One of the men responsible for this brilliant phenomena is Simon Day, former Blackheath boy and one of the nation's favourite funnymen.

His is a busy man as his comic talent is in big demand but he is finding time to tour the country with a one-man stand-up show as man-in-the-pub Billy Bleach.

Day said: "The show is basically an hour of Billy philosophising about life, the pub, relationships and everything which surrounds him.

"He is the typical idiot in the pub, but he is a loveable idiot really. There's a bit of me in there. He rattles away about nothing, but it's for people to make up their own minds if there's more."

Day was a bit of a Johnny-come-lately to the world of comedy, doing a variety of jobs before he ventured on stage.

He said: "I always wanted to be a comedian but I was 29 before I started. Before that I had a few jobs, I was a landscape gardener, I worked in a printers, and I generally dossed about."

But luckily for us he made that career change, creating characters like Dave Angel, Carl Hooper, Competitive Dad and, of course, Tommy Cockles, who has graced the stage at Greenwich's Up The Creek many times.

He said: "It used to be quite a hard audience there, but if you were good it was alright.

"Performing is good as long as they laugh. Sometimes they wouldn't and I'd walk off stage and feel terrible for a few days but then you get back up and try again.

"But thanks to The Fast Show people are laughing before I even open my mouth so I am going to make the most of that."

With his fame came a change of address Day now lives in sunny Brighton but he remembers his heath-days fondly. He frequented various watering holes like Greenwich's Rose And Crown and The Bricklayers Arms, where, perhaps, the seeds for Billy Bleach were sown.

But despite his success, Day seems to be quite a modest man. When I asked him how it feels to make hundreds of people roll around with laughter he simply said: "Yeah, it's good."

See Simon Day at the Woodville Halls, Woodville Place, Gravesend, on Friday, April 20. Show starts at 8pm and tickets priced £10 and £9 are available from the box office on 01474 337459/60. The show is not suitable for young children.

Tracey Wye