Ross Noble is bringing his comedy show On the Go to Geraldton’s Queens Park Theatre

Funnyman Ross Noble’s comedy style is always at the forefront, even while talking about something as simple as having just spent the day at a school sports carnival.

“My child was involved in it,” Noble says with his trademark quick-wittedness. “I’m not just a degenerate gambler walking by a school and thought ‘children’s athletics, I’ll bet on that’.”

So when COVID-19 hit and the Geordie comedian bunkered down on his Mornington Peninsula property with Aussie wife Fran and their daughters, Elfie, 14, and Willow, 9, one would be forgiven for thinking he might have gone rather stir crazy without being able to perform to a live audience.

It turns out his ability to adapt had been years in the making.

“People were losing their minds, being in their house, in their pyjamas, day after day,” he recalls.

“Stand-up comics could not be more equipped for that lifestyle because if I didn’t have kids, there’s no reason to get up before lunchtime. I did that for years. Before I had a family, that was my entire existence, so that didn’t affect me that much. And I also like my family, so that helped.”

Work-wise, as someone who had never experienced the structure of a 9-5 job, Noble replaced his cancelled tours by writing various scripts, with multiple projects continuing to bubble along including an animated movie musical he is developing with Fox in the US.

He says it had been the case of having a bunch of half-finished scripts and ideas kicking around in his head for years with never enough time to crack on with them.

And if he had not worked on them during the Victorian lockdowns, they never would have seen the light of day.

“It was the closest thing I’ve had to a job where I just sat there writing,” he says.

“I ended up writing for other people as well, various different projects and stuff, which I can’t normally commit to because I have so much of my own stuff on.”

His wife — who Noble met in Melbourne 22 years ago and instantly knew he wanted to marry because of her being utterly unimpressed by his comedy — took on the home schooling duties during this time.

Noble is not going to pretend for a second he was of any assistance there.

“I went in to see if my eldest daughter needed any help,” he says.

“She was on a laptop and she didn’t even look up from it and said, ‘if it’s art or drama, I’ll come and find you’.”

“They (daughters) understand what I’m doing when touring and doing live shows, and when I was on the West End doing a couple of musicals, they got their head around that too.

“They take it all in their stride . . . whenever there’s something a bit daft and they look at me, like, ‘Sorry, what are you doing?’, that’s when I’m very fond of reminding them that this pays for everything they own, so don’t start getting all judgmental at me about being a weirdo. It’s the only reason there’s food on the table.”

Noble is bringing his comedy show, On the Go, to Geraldton’s Queens Park Theatre on Wednesday, February 8.

He does not reveal beforehand what it will be about, not because he doesn’t want to, but more because he cannot be 100 per cent sure himself.

He is afraid of disappointing audiences by promising one topic he is currently obsessed about, but has moved on from by the time the show rolls around.

“Talking about genies was a big thing for a while, where I was talking about genies a lot,” Noble explains.

“But the problem is, if I tell people the show is about genies, by the time I get to that gig, the audience have read that I do a whole lot of stuff about genies, but I’ve got bored of it. Then they go, ‘Well, he never talked about that thing’.”

And much like a genie, it gives him the flexibility of infinite possibilities.

“For me, stand-up is best when it’s alive and it feels like there’s an element of excitement and danger to it,” he says.

“My favourite comics are people where, when you watch them, you’re not sure where it’s going to go and it takes you by surprise. If someone says, ‘I’m going to talk about the trauma of my kitten dying’, well, I know exactly what this is going to be.”

Noble’s Geraldton show starts at 8pm with doors opening from 7pm. For tickets visit qpt.cgg.wa.gov.au/events/