COMEDIAN Jason Manford is certainly a busy boy these days. Since leaving the BBC’s One Show in scandalous circumstances, Jason has been working hard to focus on his family and touring commitments that see him at the BIC this coming Friday and Saturday.

In November last year, Manford’s life and career fell apart in the midst of tabloid allegations that he had sent sexy messages to female fan.

Fortunately, life has been good for the wisecracking team captain of Channel 4’s hit panel game show 8 Out Of 10 Cats.

But suggest to him that he is an overnight success at your peril.

“It’s weird when people say my rise has been meteoric. I started more than ten years ago when I was 17, so when people say I’m an overnight success I say it’s been a very long night,” says Jason, 30.

Things have been happening much faster recently though and the lifelong Manchester City supporter is clearly pleased with the way things are going.

Manford, born in Salford on 28 May 1981, is particularly proud of ITV1 variety show Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford that has proved to be a success. The line-up, where music acts and cutting edge comedians share the bill with traditional stand-ups ranging from Jo Brand to Joe Pasquale, reflects Manford’s own tastes, which range from Peter Kay, who gave Manford advice when he was starting out, back to Les Dawson and Tommy Cooper.

It is all a long way from when he was a teenager and had a part-time job collecting glasses in Manchester’s Buzz Club. Back then he could only dream of being onstage, until in classic showbiz style he made his debut when one of the acts failed to turn up.

And now, all those years on the comedy circuit have begun to pay off.

He is currently developing two sitcoms and somewhere he has to find time to spend with his wife and twin daughters, born last August.

This relaxed, natural-born comedian sees himself very much in the tradition of the older generation of laughter-makers rather than the angry alternative comedians of the eighties.

“I always liked storytellers like Jasper Carrott, Victoria Wood and Dave Allen. That’s who I see as my inspiration. I’m not political, I’m just having a laugh and a chuckle.

“No one has ever left my gigs saying ‘he's really made me think tonight’ but that’s not what I want them to do. I don't think anyone goes out for ‘a good think’ do they? They go out for a bit of a laugh.”

There will be plenty to laugh about in Manford’s new show ‘Off On Tour We Go’, the only trouble is finding the time between being a dad and performing to write the material.

Having twins has helped him come up with new jokes but he would still like to have a little bit of privacy and has not revealed their names in the press: “I kept their names a secret. I’ve told my wife, obviously,” he giggles.

Manford is part of a wave of talented comedians that also includes John Bishop and Rhod Gilbert who are rapidly becoming household names, but he modestly denies that there is any rivalry.

“I’ve never been like that. I always compare myself to myself and if I’m doing better than I was six months ago I’m happy. You see people like Michael McIntyre and Peter Kay selling out huge venues and they are way ahead of us. You can’t compete with that.”

He might have a rival closer to home soon. His younger brother Colin is currently starting out as a stand-up.

“I might have him as a support act while he’s cheap,” smiles Jason.

With more fans currently going to comedy shows than ever, everyone is benefiting from what has been dubbed The Michael McIntyre Effect.

“There's a huge appetite for live comedy at the moment. I guess they’ve seen Michael, enjoyed him and gone, ‘who else is on then?’” Audiences are really passionate too.

“It’s nice that people who like you really like you, but the downside is that people that don’t like you really hate you.

“Comedy is the only thing that gets people really angry. Nobody goes in to work furious the next day and goes ‘Did you see Heartbeat last night, wasn’t it terrible?’”