Even Elvis was in stitches at funster Freddie

There are practical jokers – and then there's Freddie Starr. There was the time the Liverpudlian comic nailed the shoes of an entire group of dancers to the stage floor, so they all fell over when they stepped into them.

And then there was the treatment he dished out to 60s beat group The Bachelors.

"When they went out it looked like choreography: 'All together now'."

That sense of devilment is something which has never left the hell-raising comedian, who celebrates 50 years in showbusiness with his latest tour.

Billed as his Golden Jubilee, it sees Freddie return to theatres after a two-year absence from live touring.

Though he was acclaimed for his TV appearances, which have seen him cause chaos on chat shows ranging from Michael Parkinson to Des O'Connor, he admits the small screen has never quite captured the anarchy of his live act.

You see, there's a good reason why people are wary of going to the toilet while he's on stage.

"They can go, but I will follow them," Freddie said.

"At one show this woman got up and 'I said where are you off to?'

"She said 'I'm going to the toilet', so I followed her in there with the microphone. Nobody else tried to go after that."

Freddie, who was born in war-time Liverpool, began his showbusiness career in the city's musical scene of the 1960s.

Among his contemporaries were The Beatles, with whom he shared a flat in Hamburg, as they launched their careers in the German port.

But it was only once he introduced gags into the performances with his band, The Midnighters, that Freddie realised where his true skills lay.

After his big break – at the Royal Variety Performance in 1970 – he became the only performer in 47 years to be called back for an encore.

His impression that night, of Mick Jagger, established his ability to sing and do impressions – but it was his brass-necked confidence which saw him take off Elvis in his own home during a visit to Graceland.

"I did Heartbreak Hotel," says Freddie, laughing at the memory.

"I kept banging my head on the mic and getting the cable wrapped around my head.

"Elvis was laughing so much, he was making me laugh."

* Freddie Starr is at Hull City Hall, Queen Victoria Square, Hull on Saturday at 7.30pm. Tickets are £17.50 - £19.50, call (01482) 226655