MUSIC is food for the soul, or, for Hardeep Singh Kohli, a way of bearing one’s soul.

The funny man is heading to the North West next week with a show which promises to share ‘the joy, the pain and the bizarre middle eight’.

Mix Tape is a stand-up show devised by the BBC Radio 4 star, taking the audience on a journey with seven nostalgic songs.

The 48-year-old Glaswegian said: “The show is about music, funny stories, my life through music. Music is very important to me.

“It’s about having a laugh and listening to different music. There is something in what songs make you feel and make you remember.

“The ending of the show is very personal, it is a very emotional show. People care so much about music, I care so much about it.

“Getting to play the music is really important, there are songs you have to hear to understand what I’m talking about. For example the opening song which is a Hindi film song.”

Hardeep is known to audiences as a regular panellist on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff and for Channel 4 has written and presented the BAFTA Award-winning In Search of the Tartan Turban and Hardeep Does...

Having started his broadcasting career in radio he still holds the wireless very dear, presenting extensively across BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live and has made a number of documentaries for BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4.

The brand new tour comes off back of a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

It started it run around the UK in February in Leicester and Hardeep will come to The Met in Bury next Thursday.

As well as looking forward to an enthusiastic audience, Hardeep, who is something of a foodie, is looking forward to getting his hands on a particular local delicacy.

He said: “I haven’t been to Bury for years so I’m really looking forward to it!

“I’m looking forward to the market and getting some black pudding. I always prefer the North to the South!

“I do enjoy touring, it’s a different experience to the Fringe which, being in the same country, is a bit like going to work.

“The show went down really well at the Fringe. I wasn’t even sure the show was funny until six days before the festival. You don’t walk around thinking you are hilarious, you need to get it in front of an audience.

“It’s a really nice and humbling experience.”

Hardeep Singh Kholi, Bury Met, Thursday, March 23. Details from 0161 7612216 or visit www.themet.biz.