Eating chocolate cake or licking mint ice cream is how comedian Patrick Monahan deals with stress. “I once ate seven cup cakes back- stage before a gig,” he jests.

The immense strain this northern, family-friendly entertainer puts himself under is, he admits, “self-inflicted because I like a challenge”.

For this 33-year-old, who is “a strict teetotaller” and doesn’t swear in his show “just to get a laugh”, is currently touring with not one, but two shows.

One for youngsters: Stories & Fables For Kids That Like Sitting At Tables. “It’s all about a 467-year-old man who flies on a magic carpet through time and tells stories and has a laugh with the kids,” says Patrick.

And, one for adults: Cowboys & Iranians. “Me and the audience put forward solutions to many of today’s social problems,” he explains.

The daunting task of performing stand-up to a roomful of tipsy adults or hyperactive kids is like water off the proverbial duck’s back for this workaholic comedian. In fact, one of his current sketches is about anatidaephobia (the fear that you are being watched by ducks).

“Most comics think I’m mental to be doing stand-up for kids as well as adults. I guess I am,” muses Patrick.

His strength of character, playfulness and charming persona could be because of his upbringing, which is infused with culture clashes. “My dad’s Irish, my mum’s Iranian... and you’ve probably guessed, we spent most of our family holidays in Customs,” he jokes.

“I was born in Ahvaz in the west of Iran,” explains Patrick in his unique North East accent. “My family moved to Teesside ‘cos of the Iran/Iraqi war in 1980 because the work for my dad stopped. My dad found work as a wielder and pipe fitter for British Steel, so I grew up in a typical, friendly, industrial, northern town – there wasn’t many Iranians or Irish Iranians back then.”

He continues: “I learnt pretty early on at school that if you can’t fight very well you can disarm bigger lads with humour or by talking funny.”

For the past 17 years, Patrick has been perfecting his comedic craft of “thinking on his feet” by firstly cutting his teeth on the tough North East comedy circuit, where he developed his chatty and friendly, story telling style. From there, he made sure he was entertaining on every comedy circuit, entering every comedy competition, putting his name down on the rostra for every festival and ensuring he was learning his craft from other comedians too, until he had honed a comic pedigree all his own.

Patrick writes all of his “lively, mental and buzzing” material. “Most of my comedy comes from something that either happened to me or that I saw happen to someone, and then the comedy comes from how I reacted to the situation and obviously there’s a slight exaggeration of the story to make it more interesting.”

But what this veteran of several sell out Edinburgh Fringe runs most enjoys is interacting with his audience. He learnt his unique improvisation technique as an audience warm-up man for television programmes including The Paul O’ Grady Show and Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.

He comments: “There’s no magic formula for the live experience. I just love to have a laugh with my audience.“
Patrick Monahan is at The Millfield Arts Centre, Silver Street, Edmonton, on Friday, May 28. Details: 020 8807 6680.