Comedian Joe Pasquale is on a mission to cheer everyone up - and his Pull My Finger show is going to do just that, writes Anita Merritt.

THERE are two things you could never accuse Joe Pasquale of – being lost for words or short of a gag or two.

Speaking at what seems like a million miles an hour in his uniquely high-pitched voice, our telephone conversation begins with the usual pleasantries before Joe asks: 'Do you want to ask questions or shall I just talk?'

Before I can even reply he has already launched into telling me all about his latest tour, Pull My Finger, which is coming to Exmouth Pavilion on Saturday, November 12.

"I've been on tour for 19 years," he declares. "There's lots of comedians out there on tour but there's not many you can bring the family to.

"There might be the odd willy joke but there won't be anything bad!

"People are forgetting that families still want to go out and see comedy, which is why pantomimes do so well still.

"My show is two hours of doing what I do best, which is nonsense! I used to have a support act but if you've paid to see somebody, you should get to see them. I tried it out last year and it worked a lot better that way than it ever has before, really. So now people get two hours of nonsense."

The much-loved comedian has been delighting audiences with his live stand-up tours for almost 20 years.

Along the way he's voiced characters for Hollywood movies Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and Horton Hears A Who! as well as for children's television show Frankenstein's Cat. He starred in The Muppets' 25th anniversary show alongside the legendary Jon Voight, toured in several theatrical productions, was crowned King of the Jungle in ITV's I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here in 2004 and become a mainstay of the British panto season. "I've been doing it all these years and I still love it," enthuses Joe. "What's really good is I don't do my tour all year. I do it for a couple of months then go on to something else.

"After this tour I'm straight in panto then I'm on tour with the play Doctor in the House with Robert Powell as Sir Lancelot Spratt. It means I will be working with Jesus – but obviously not the real one!"

Joe is, of course, referring to the fact that Robert Powell is probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth.

Last month, Joe enjoyed a brief return to our television screens when he starred in the new survival show Alone in the Wild on the Discovery Channel.

The programme shows well-known personalities as you've never seen them before, fending for themselves in some of the most remote and treacherous wildernesses on the planet with only their cameras for company.

Joe was taken to the rainforests of Guyana to confront both mental solitude and the potential physical threats from jaguars, insects and poisonous plants.

Recalling the experience, Joe said: "It sounds like hell but it was brilliant. I got four days SAS training with Chris Ryan.

"All I was given in the rainforest was a video camera, machete, hammock, mosquito net and a couple of bottles for water and then they said: 'See you in a week.'

"I didn't eat because I couldn't eat anything with a face on it. Actually, I did eat one maggot but it gave me indigestion. It did have a face but it was so small you couldn't see it!

"It wasn't too bad being in the rainforest during the day but at night it was petrifying. The scary thing is you know that out there are things like jaguars and spiders.

"I just laughed my way through everything. When I was in the jungle doing I'm a Celebrity ... Get me Out of Here I was with 13 other people with a crew of 150 people following us about, so that was a very different experience.

"On my own in the rainforest I ended up chatting to the monkeys instead. One particular one I was chatting to threw something at me. It was his own poo. Now that's a heckle!"

Putting himself through gruelling experiences is something Joe seems to have become addicted to since his stint in the jungle.

His achievements include overcoming a deep-seated fear of flying and qualifying as a pilot, fulfilling a lifetime ambition to revisit his education and start studying with the Open University for a degree in geoscience, and completing the London Marathon in five hours, 22 minutes.

It was no mean achievement for a man whose only experience of running had been from one side of the stage to the other during his action-packed performances.

"I turned 50 this year and had not done any running unless someone was chasing me," laughs Joe. "I tell you, 26 miles is a bloody long way! I still run about five to six miles, three times a week."

Joe then stops in his tracks to declare that he has found a verruca plaster on the ground. It's not his but is on the street he is walking along. Chuckling to himself at the timing of such a find when talking about running he says: "Obviously it's used. I'm not touching that!"

The conversation takes a rare serious twist with Joe revealing the reason behind his mission to live his life to the full.

"If you look at the psychology of it, 10 to 11 years ago my mum died," he says. "You don't expect your parents to go when they're 65. I'm 50 now so I thought if I've only got 15 years left I want to fit in as much as I can.

"Some people like to sit in front of the television and get fat. I do the total opposite. I'm always doing something."