Jason Cook's spooked. It's a sense of creeping dread that has followed him around the world.

But far from being a personal thing, the Geordie comic suspects you're feeling much the same way.

Jason's new show, Fear, has been packing them in on his recent tour of Australia and in performances around Britain.

"It's to show people that they are not alone," he told the Mail.

"We've all got fears – I'm scared of heights – although I have come across some really strange ones.

"There was a bloke at one gig who was terrified of seaweed, even though he lived in the Pennines.

"It turned out his wife kept a bucket of seaweed in the garage and would chase him round the house with it if he annoyed her."

At another gig, Jason met a man who was terrified of whales – specifically the whale skeletons you'll find in museums.

Fear is the latest confessional show from Jason, who bases his material on his own life.

My Confessions, his 2007 show, moved audiences to tears when he spoke about his dad's stroke.

So, as you might have guessed, he's never been a one-line gag merchant.

"It's about finding things that connect with other people – you're always looking for those universal truths," he said.

"I always think that if you're going to take up people's time, you should have some sort of theme running through it – though I am one for getting distracted.

"There's one story about a ventriloquist that I tell, but I never seem to finish it.

"After one gig in Leeds, I had some of the audience members follow me into the car park to ask what happened next.

"At least it shows they're listening."

Jason's stand-up career began after a friend asked him to write a script for a comedy night.

"When I saw my words being done on stage, I thought I'd have a go," he said.

"So I quit my job in the merchant navy, sold my house and got on with it.

"I'd spoken to a few comedians, who told me that if I was going to do comedy, I'd have to do it properly."

When the Mail speaks with Jason he's about to jet off to a gig in Amsterdam – every year he travels some 60,000 miles for his stand-up appearances.

"It's not a rock'n'roll life though," he said.

"You spend a lot of time in towns and cities just waiting to go on stage.

"In Australia, I was doing 15 minutes every evening. Every day is based around those 15 minutes – and after a while, you run out of things to do.

"But the pleasure is there every time you get a laugh."

At the moment, he's writing his new show The End (Part One) about the time he thought he was having a heart attack last Christmas.

"It's about assessing whether you've had a good life," he said.

"There's that list thing which I realised I'd never done – the list of people you're going to kill when the revolution comes.

"Everyone seems to have one apart from me."

But for the time being though, he's focused on fear – and the way it can curb people's lives.

"Fear ultimately leads to regret," he said.

"And a life filled with regret is no life at all."

*Jason Cook appears on Sunday, 8.15pm, at The Other Side Comedy Club, Pave, Princes Avenue, Hull.

Tickets, £5-£7, are available from the venue, or call 0845 838 1558.

Link: www.yorkshirecoastcomedy.co.uk

More comedy:

Comedian Luke Bailey says nerves are a positive thing as he comperes stand-up competition in Hull

Stop Messing About: Theatre show recreates Kenneth Williams comedy