THERE are only two things comedian Susan Calman needs when she tours around the country - expensive shower gel and proper coffee.

And she will be bringing both - as well as her new tour Lady Like - when she comes to Number 8 Arts Centre, Pershore on Saturday, November 15.

But it is not all lavish washing and luxurious hot drinks, there is some serious work to be done by the Glaswegian comic, both on and off stage: “My sitcom [Sisters] was recently commissioned by Radio 4 so I’ll get into writing that.

"Yes, it’ll be a bit lonely, but some of the dates on the tour are already sold out and people are getting excited about it, and I’m really excited about it too.”

The tour is a two-parter made up of a first half best-of from the Edinburgh Fringe work she’s performed since 2006, while the second half is her new show Lady Like.

“The first bit is really about getting to know me, so you have a better idea of who I actually am.

"It’s basically an introduction, so everyone hopefully relaxes and there are no surprises.

"It’ll be a nice relaxing 45 minutes, go away and have a drink, come back for the second half. It should be a proper night of good old-fashioned entertainment.”

While that first-half compilation effectively acts as a warm-up, Lady Like is partly about her trying to enjoy the company and personality of one particular person - herself.

While it does touch on dark moments from her distant and more recent past, a wide-eyed joyfulness runs through the show from a romantic gesture gone awry in Paris to trying to realise her dreams of being a ballerina and a hilarious television escapade in Iceland with Phil Tufnell.

“There’s so much negativity around these days.

"People are keen to tell you in 140 characters just how much they think you’re rubbish.

"I think Twitter is an amazing, amazing thing but it can turn you on a pin, from happiness to despair.

"Anything you say can be dissected.

"It was bad enough when I was growing up thinking whether I was good enough, never mind now.

"People just want a rise out of you but you can block them and move on.”

Calman does not remember too much about her very first gig, an open spot at The Stand in Glasgow, but it didn’t take too long for her new career to head in an upwards direction.

She reached the semi-finals of both the BBC New Comedy Awards and So You Think You’re Funny and was a finalist in the Funny Women competition.

There have also been appearances in well-received sketch shows Ugly Kid and Angry Puppy and she has gradually become a regular voice on radio through The News Quiz and The Unbelievable Truth as well as appearances on television shows Dead Boss and Fresh Meat.

“I’d never seen live comedy before I did my own first gig.

"My heroes were the Young Ones, French and Saunders, the Carry On films, and I really loved Joyce Grenfell, oddly enough.

"I know An Audience With Victoria Wood entirely off by heart.

"That was the kind of stuff I wanted to do, to tell stories.

"The Edinburgh Fringe really teaches you what kind of comedian you are and, more importantly, what kind of comedian you’re not.

"I’m not a one-liner comic and never will be.

"At the end of a show, I think audiences like to perhaps know a little bit more about that person and that’s the kind of comedy I like to see.”

The show begins at 7.30pm and tickets, costing £14, are available by calling 01386 555488.