"How dare you!" exclaims Ken Dodd in mock indignation to the suggestion he should hang up his tickling stick, give his Diddy Men voluntary redundancy, and close down the jam-buttie mines.

"Why should I when I love every second of doing my job?"

You get the impression that for Dodd - booked to play to a sell-out crowd at Kingston's Rose Theatre on Sunday night - performing is his life, not just a profession. And, being part of his DNA, something he is unable to turn his back on.

Legendary five-hour live performances are common and his shows are often preceded with warnings such as, "this event is anticipated to finish around midnight".

"I think I have only had one day off in my entire career - and that was for suspected pneumonia," he says.

"I was back on stage the next night with a mustard patch on my chest.

"The doctor insisted I wore it but all the stage hands kept rubbing their ham sandwiches on it, so it had to go!"

Old-school humour? Maybe. And, admittedly, some of Dodd's jokes are so old they were no doubt being bandied around school play grounds even before the comic - once voted "the greatest Mersey-sider of all time" - started in showbusiness more than 50 years ago.

But somehow it doesn't matter. This is Doddy, for God's sake! A legend.

Jokes are all about the delivery and a good comedian can make bad jokes work.

Not that all of Doddy's jokes are old - his act is a mix of everything.

And who cares that many of his cultural references are from the 1970s and 80s. The guy's funny. That's all you need to know.

And Dodd has no time for the swearing, ranting style of some of the newer comedians.

"Far too much emphasis is placed on vulgar material," he says.

"Sadly, swearing is being passed off as comedy.

"My audience certainly don't want to be embarrassed or insulted with below-the-belt humour.

"There was more art to comedy years ago.

"Comics were masters of their craft and today there are precious few places to learn that craft."

A bill-topper for most of his career - Dodd has starred in numerous Royal Variety Shows and record-breaking seasons at the London Palladium and Blackpool Opera House - he describes being "absolutely discumknockerated" to be bringing his Happiness Show to the Rose.

"Did you know that a laugh is something that comes out of a hole in your face?" he says.

"Anywhere else and you are in dead trouble!"

And he's right, by jove!

Ken Dodd, Rose Theatre, Kingston, July 27. Tickets sold out, returns only. Call 0871 230 1552 or visit rosetheatrekingston.org.