1 Before he became a comedic superstar, Lee Evans played drums in a punk band all-too aptly called The Forgotten Five and was assistant to a spiritualist window dresser in Southend.

2 In 1993, the lad who left school when he could barely read won the Perrier Award, beating off nominees such as Phil Kay, Corky and the Juice Pigs and Greg Proops.

3 In 2005, he set the then British audience record for a solo comedy act when just over 10,000 showed up for his gig at the Manchester Evening News Arena, smashing the previous record held at that time by Eddie Izzard. Chris Rock has since topped the Evans figure.

4 He's appeared in a range of movies, such as There's Something About Mary, Funny Bones, The Fifth Element and The Magic Roundabout where he provided the voice of Train. In 2004, he had his first non-serious starring role in British psychological thriller Freeze Frame, for which he shaved his head and eyebrows. It all grew back eventually.

5 One thing you can't say about his shows is that they're laid-back. He is a slapstick man who twists, stumbles, falls and sweats, usually in an ill-fitting suit. His regular dry cleaner in Southend eventually refused to take any more of his business as he had couldn't return the suits in anything like mint condition. Sweat apparently rots the stitching.

SECC, Glasgow, Wed 22–Fri 24 Oct.