No laughs? I think I'd rather be punched

And he's sticking to that no-nonsense approach with his latest tour, clocking up a whopping 180 gigs across the length and breadth of the country stretching right into 2014.

His career started at Manchester's famous Buzz Comedy Club, where he was collecting glasses, back in 1999. Despite being just 17 and having no real experience, Jason stepped up to the stage when one of the scheduled performers failed to turn up and delivered a searing set.

"At that age you think you can do anything," he tells the Star. "It went really well though. Most comedians say they were rubbish at the beginning and they get better over time but I was really really good from day one. I was like 'Yes! This is a piece of cake'. Then after 20 gigs I suddenly became rubbish. I had a Benjamin Button thing going on. But I just had to face it and then things got better again. You've got to get through it. You have to learn how bad it can be. And you learn more from the bad gigs than the good ones."

Inspired by the likes of Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Peter Kay, Salford-born Jason is known for his razor-sharp observations on everyday life. His latest tour, First World Problems, touches on call centres, footballers and the perils of raising children.

"I'm not breaking any new ground here," he chuckles. "If you enjoyed the last two shows, you'll enjoy this. I've not changed my style or the stuff I talk about. But it is a brand new show. I talk about first world problems – the things that annoy us on a day-to-day basis. The little petty things. The kids, call centres, that sort of thing."

As we speak, Jason is in Northampton but he will be bringing his show to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stafford and Shrewsbury over the coming months.

"It's going really well," the 32-year-old says. "It was a mad feeling though, I sold 5,000 tickets before I'd written a single word.

"I'm always working and jotting down ideas. You never know what will end up in it.

"I work on a show for around six months and there's no pressure at that stage. Then you get to the point when you're like 'Right, I've got enough ideas now – book it in'.

"Then it's six months gigging and getting back to the clubs, getting your sea legs back, seeing if you can still do it. During that time you're just reading from pieces of paper. Then I do 25 preview shows where you charge like a fiver. It starts at three hours' worth of material and makes it down to two hours."

So is it a case of trial and error when it comes to what jokes make the final cut?

"Yes. There are absolutely moments when there's dead silence," he says. "It's terrible and doesn't get any easier. I'd rather get a punch in the face. It's horrible."

Many other comedians have bemoaned the cycle of touring – the endless hotel rooms, service stations and faceless town centres – but Jason says, even though it's gruelling, it still doesn't feel like work.

"The travel is a part of it, doing the same gig is a part of it. You miss your kids and your friends and that but when you're doing something that you love, you'll never do a day's work in your life," the father-of-three explains.

"You have the best of things on one side but there is that difficult side too. When I'm on tour, I try to stick around the north west as much as possible so I can see the kids. I'm only ever away from them for a couple of nights a week. And I try and meet up with friends at the weekend. They'll often come to see one of my gigs and we'll catch up.

"It's funny, it's always when I'm in places like the Lake District when they want to come and see me. It's never when I'm in places like Northampton. I sure I'll be completely out of tickets when Wolverhampton rolls around though, it'll be a capital of culture in the future I'm sure.

"The main thing that's always the same is the hotel rooms – and most town centres. On the ground floor, everything looks the same, there's Costa, Starbucks, Nando's everywhere and that can get boring. But it's about finding out the different little parts of these towns and enjoying or being inspired by that.

"But if I ever find myself in the cinema, I know I'm in a really boring town."

Legends

After winning The City Life North West Comedian of the Year after those initial six gigs, Jason was nominated for the Perrier Award in Edinburgh in 2005 for his show Urban Legends. After that came gigs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and China before the TV work started to flood in.

His most well-known credits include 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Odd One In, QI, Would I Lie to You and lending his voice to the highly-acclaimed Walk on the Wild Side.

And last year he starred in the West End musical Sweeney Todd, playing Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli alongside Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. It was a full singing role and Jason admitted it was way out of his comfort zone. Although he did admit at the time as feeling though he had no pressure and a certain freedom in the production. "In many ways there was no pressure on me. I didn't feel people were sat there going, 'I wonder when Jason Manford comes on'."

But with all of this success and huge performances at venues such as London's O2, does he still get hecklers? After all, Jason's personal life has been dragged through the tabloids for all to see of late. But, sshhh, we're not allowed to talk about that.

"I still get hecklers but these days it's not negative, it's positive. Most people just want to join in. They are so relaxed in my company they forget themselves. I think if you asked any of my audience beforehand whether they would ever heckle a comedian, they would say 'No, never' but they then get carried away and just want to join in. But it's all positive. I don't really get people shouting "You're rubbish" now – and that's not an encouragement for them to start, by the way."

The last date of First World Problems is April 12, 2014. By then, he will have performed the material hundreds of times, performed in front of countless faces and covered thousands of miles.

"It's weird when you finish a tour. It's like when you go on holiday as a kid and have a great time and then come back home and everything is familiar but strange and weird at the same time. It's like you've had the best time ever but those variables that made it so brilliant will never happen again.

"When I speak to people who work on oil rigs or are in the Army and they go away for four or five months at a time, they say a similar thing. You just wonder around thinking 'What do I do?'.

"The kids have moved on a bit and they have a slightly different routine that you're not involved in. I spend time with them in the day, I put them to bed twice a week and it's hard missing them. My daughters are really young and don't remember as much so that's why I'm powering through this tour now when they're young. I still see them three or four days a week in the day and it's full on – the Sea Life Centre, Blackpool, the cinema, we really go for it. It's different to having them seven days a week, when you'd have days doing nothing, now it's like 'Come on, we're off to Alton Towers'. It's quality time."

Unbelievable as it may seem, Jason has also been doing TV work during his time of the road – and is also keen to pursue more dramatic acting roles in the future.

"I've just done a couple of QIs and 8 Out Of 10 Cats and they were a lot of fun. I've also just finished an ITV drama about the life of Tommy Cooper. I play a magician who teaches Tommy tricks.

"I'd definitely like to do some more dramatic acting roles. I do enjoy that. I was in the Sweeney Todd stage show and my character had a dark side and that's always fun to play."

"But for now though," he concludes. "It's comedy all the way. The tour is mental but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm loving it."

By Elizabeth Joyce

First World Problems comes to Birmingham on September 4 and 5 (0844 871 7627), Wolverhampton on January 24 (0870 320 7000), Stafford on February 13 and 14 (01785 254 653) and Shrewsbury on February 18 and 19 (01743 281 281).