Richmond-born comedian Adam Bloom talks to Michelle Vilk about his comedy idol, heckling and his best gig yet before his upcoming show at the Bearcat Club in Twickenham this month.

Not only did 42-year-old Bloom spend the first 30 years of his life in the borough but the Bearcat was the first place he ever performed.

He explains what he's most looking forward to on his return. He says: “The thrill of making an audience laugh who have connections with my birthplace. There’s always inevitably someone in the audience who I haven’t seen since school.”

When he was 13, Bloom announced to his family he wanted to be a comedian, citing Kenny Everett as his childhood idol.

He says: “He was just so silly and playful with constant glee in his eyes. I can remember watching him with my mum and sister and us all howling for an hour.”

Nineteen years after he started out, Bloom has performed sell-out shows from Edinburgh and Sydney to Montreal and Cape Town.

He says: “My comedy is for people who liked quick-moving cerebral comedy, not for drunks or people who don’t like to keep up with stuff and be challenged.”

He says the most rewarding part of performing is connecting with his audience, when the they laugh at something new and spontaneous. However, he says there's something much worse than not being laughed at – being ignored.

He says: “It means you’re so unimportant to the people in front of you. I’d far, far, far rather be heckled.”

His most memorable show was at a bar in Barcelona when the owners rudely turned off all the lights mid-performance to close up early, plunging everyone into darkness.

He says: “One by one people started putting their phones on to shed a bit of light towards the stage. It was beautiful, I almost cried. We had something to bond over than just being a room of people watching comedy, we were determined not to be beaten.”

Adam Bloom, Bearcat Club, The Turk's Head, Winchester Road, St Margarets, May 25. Doors open 8pm. Tickets £13 for members and £15 non-members. Call 020 8607 9190 or visit bearcatcomedy.co.uk for information and tickets.