Laughter is the best medicine for comedian Adam Kay.

As part of a whistle-stop tour of the UK, comedy genius Adam Kay will be visiting his childhood stomping ground, Fairfield Halls, this Sunday.

Originally from south-east London, Kay performed summer concerts with his school in the Croydon venue and is pleased to be performing there in his own right as frontman of musical comedy outfit, Amateur Transplants.

The background to Kay’s comedic success is far from what you would expect.

He and fellow Amateur Transplants founder, Suman Biswas, who has since left the act, discovered their talent for writing and parodying songs whilst at medical school.

Now a qualified doctor, Kay explained how the act came about He says: "When it started at medical school, we produced about 100 CDs for RAG week to raise money for Macmillan cancer care.

Now it’s 10 years and a few more albums down the line, and none of it would have happened if it hadn’t been for that first one."

The doctor-turned-comedian in fact owes so much to Amateur Transplants’ initial exposure that he regularly donates part of the proceeds from his album sales to Macmillan, having raised over £30,000 for the charity to date.

However, Kay’s decision to turn his back on medicine for the footloose world of live comedy is definitely not one he regrets.

While he says, with more than a subtle hint of sarcasm, "my parents were obviously delighted" with his radical career move, ultimately the 31-year-old prefers the freedom that comes with performing live He says: "I always have a glass of wine on stage. It’s my lucky thing - some footballers have lucky pants, mine is a bottle of Pinot Grigio. But as a doctor, drinking Pinot Grigio at work is not really the same thing."

The Croydon gig will feature Kay’s most well-known song, ‘London Underground’, a satirical parody of a 1980 hit by The Jam.

The song, which humourously mocks the standards of the Tube, became an internet phenomenon from 2005.

Kay says: "It was one of the earlier things to ‘go viral’, and later Youtube gave it a second wind."

Incredibly, the song has had around 7 million online hits.

When asked what Croydon can expect from the show, tellingly titled "Smutty Songs", Kay says: "It covers every topic you can possibly think of, from tiny batteries to the Heimlich manouvre."

Adam Kay, The Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, Sunday May 27, at 7.30pm tickets £16 call 0208 722 6351