Abi Smith - Micky Flanagan--Funny Geezer

Please welcome onto the stage, Mr Micky Flanagan!

M y wife, shes very middle class. She loves to go out to a restaurant and say things like, Isnt this lovely, doesnt it have a lovely ambience? And Ill say: I dont have a clue about

The audience cackled with laughter. The dazzling spotlights were planted firmly on Micky, standing in the centre of the stage of the Brighton Dome on that warm summers evening of 2009 but he could still make out the front two rows of the crowd and saw huge grins beaming back at him. He had everyones attention and continued his now well-perfected, well-rehearsed red sauce gag as everyone waited eagerly for the punchline. Apart from the comic pauses that allowed the audience to appreciate every rib-splitting line of the story and for a confident performer like Micky, sometimes saying nothing apart from raising an eyebrow to the audience is enough to heighten the gag even further they didnt have long to wait to hear the climax of the joke.

So, were in this fancy French restaurant and something is ruining the ambience for me. There is no tomato sauce on the table. Setting up the very awkward situation where Ive now got to ask for tomato sauce. I said to the waitress, Excuse me, do you have any ketchup? She went to the kitchen and I saw her coming back with a little pot. I stopped her, I said, Dont go anywhere, love, and I took a sip of it. Then I looked at her and said, Yes, Ill have a bottle, please.

The laughter from the auditorium was deafening. Micky stood still and smiled back at them, chuckling to himself and pleased as punch with the reaction that he was getting. He knew he had struck a chord with the diverse members of the audience, revelling in the knowledge that few comedians enjoy such broad appeal, and feeling his fans appreciation as their cheers reverberated around the space.

Micky left the stage in a buzz. The crowd loved him, and hopefully the thousands of viewers at home who were watching the last episode of Michael McIntryres Comedy Roadshow loved him too. This is what hed been waiting for. After 10 years of working every weekend in the pubs and clubs on the comedy circuit for a handful of people in a range of venues some pretty grim, others worse (the sort of places where youd wipe your feet on the way out) his dedication had paid off. People were clapping and cheering him because he was telling them about his life. And in that one gag, we get a whole lot of life story about Micky. Middle class versus working class; fancy restaurants verses red sauce. Words that have no meaning to an East Ender born and bred (what is an ambience?) but who is now living in middle-class suburbia.

From being too poor to afford Alphabetti Spaghetti when he was a youngster to dipping fancy bread in oil at his wifes dinner parties.

From drinking Stella Artoiris (Mickys pronunciation) to sipping from a nice bottle of Shiraz. If Micky had been called Eliza Doolittle, there would be some comparison rising from the cockney working classes to earning a fortune entertaining the country.

A man-of-the-people in that hes admitted to stealing things in the past cos he believes certain foods are well over-priced (dont get him started on the price of motorway service station sandwiches!) and yet he can entertain the future King of England with his cheeky tales.

Micky to his fans, Michael to his mum, oi Flanagan! to his mates Mickys appeal is that you could see yourself having a pie and pint with him and staying on until closing time (youd probably have a lock-in too, depending on the landlord) and yet he is a millionaire with more money than I know what to do with.

But how had he become such a well-known, well-liked character? From humble beginnings in the East End of London in the 1970s to selling out seven nights at one of the biggest arenas in the country, Londons O2. From hating school as a youngster to going back to university in his thirties. From giving teachers grief as a teenager who got a detention every other day to standing in front of a class full of pupils as a trainee teacher, years later. Fish porter, window cleaner, painter and decorator, waiter in America from doing f**k all to entertaining thousands at more than 400 shows in two sell-out tours.

Its high time that we delve into the funny world of Mr Flanagan to discover more about his popularity, what inspires him and how he made the simple act of asking for ketchup in a restaurant a laugh-out-loud ordeal.