IS the comedian Marcus Brigstocke not really a happy man these days?

After all, even his touring show is called "Why the Long Face?"

As he's set to entertain at Hereford's Courtyard Theatre, it's a question worth asking.

Marcus said: "I've been looking so glum because of such troubling matters as Brexit, austerity, Donald Trump, cheese strings, Isis, tax avoiders and the inexplicable popularity of nail bars.

"You can’t really blame me for feeling down about any of those subjects, can you?"

But Marcus has decided to turn his frown upside, - and the result is transformational

It's a bit like a bald, bearded man turning his head upside down and discovering how he suddenly has a rather interesting hairstyle, for once.

In fact, it's fair to say that Marcus is even starting to feel slightly pleased with himself.

Marcus said: "It started as I was recovering from a big low. I’d had a messy breakup, and the show came about when I began to feel better. The show is all about gratitude. I’m a straight white man – life doesn’t get much better than that. It’s awesome. Everything is set up for me to be comfortable – very much at the cost of everyone else! So I’m enormously grateful to women, gay people and people from ethnic minorities.”

He added: "Being a comedian is a great job. My kids are happy and healthy. I own a house, for Christ’s sake. I’m blissfully happy in a new relationship. I really have nothing I should not be grateful for, and yet I spend a lot of time gnashing my teeth and railing against the system. So the show is about saying, ‘Hang on a minute. I actually have a very charmed life, and I should be very grateful for it’.”

The comedian, who has also appeared on Have I Got News For You (BBC1), QI (BBC2), The Jump (Channel 4), and Sorry I’ve Got No Head (BBC1), believes that particularly in such turbulent times, “it is vital to be engaged with the news. The only problem is that my desire to know what’s going on is being offset by my need to maintain a decent mental state.”

Marcus’s shows always end with a bang, and “Why the Long Face?” will be no exception. But the comedian is reluctant to spoil the surprise of it.

He said: "I can’t say what the ending will be, but it’s something that I’m both enormously excited about and enormously ashamed of. People will not be disappointed. Afterwards, they will have an image that they won’t be able to get out of their heads, no matter what.”

His show, "Why the Long Face?" comes to Hereford's Courtyard Theatre on Monday November 28, from 8pm.

Tickets and further details on, 01432 340555.