After a 15 year hiatus from live performing, Ben Elton has today announced his return to stand-up comedy with a 53-date UK and Ireland tour that kicks off next September with a date at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

Elton is one of the most celebrated comedians of his generation, having first gained notoriety through hosting Channel 4’s Saturday Live in the 1980s. He subsequently went on to establish himself as a respected author, playwright, actor and director, penning best-selling novels and co-writing hit TV shows such as The Young Ones and Blackadder in the process.

Now returning to the medium from which he has had such a lengthy absence, Elton "promises to try and make sense of a world which appears to have gone stark raving mad" and will travel the length and breadth of the UK whilst doing so, in addition to his dates in Olympia and Belfast's Ulster Hall.

"The last time I toured I was still smarter than my phone," he confessed in a statement. "Things have definitely taken a funny turn."

The tour kicks off at The Olympia on the 27th of September and eventually culminates in Torquay on the 30th of November. Tickets for all shows will go on sale this Monday (the 10th of December) via Ticketmaster. The full list of dates and venues is set out below.

Ben Elton 2019 Irish and UK Tour Dates:

27 September 2019 Dublin: Olympia Theatre

28 September 2019 Belfast: Ulster Hall

30 September 2019 Nottingham: Playhouse

1 October 2019 Glasgow: Pavilion

2 October 2019 Inverness: Eden Court

3 October 2019 Aberdeen: Music Hall

4 October 2019 Edinburgh: Queens Hall

7 October 2019 Middlesbrough: Town Hall

8 October 2019 Hull: City Hall

9 October 2019 Scunthorpe: Baths

10 October 2019 Southport: Theatre

11 October 2019 Newcastle: Tyne Theatre

12 October 2019 Bridlington: Spa

14 October 2019 York: Barbican

15 October 2019 Liverpool: Philharmonic

16 October 2019 Leeds: Town Hall

17 October 2019 Leicester: DeMontfort Hall

18 October 2019 Chesterfield: Winding Wheel

19 October 2019 Warrington: Parr Hall

20 October 2019 Bath: Theatre Royal

22 October 2019 Birmingham: Town Hall

23 October 2019 Coventry: WAC

24 October 2019 Salford: Lowry

25 October 2019 Northampton: Derngate

28 October 2019 Tunbridge Wells: Assembly Hall

30 October 2019 Colchester: Charter Hall

31 October 2019 Chatham: Central

1 November 2019 Folkestone: Leas Cliff Hall

2 November 2019 Southend: Cliffs Pavilion

4 November 2019 Wycombe: Swan

5 November 2019 Basingstoke: Anvil

6 November 2019 Salisbury: City Hall

7 November 2019 Cardiff: St David’s Hall

8 November 2019 Poole: Lighthouse

9 November 2019 Barnstaple: Queens Theatre

11 November 2019 Eastbourne: Congress Theatre

12 November 2019 Southampton: Guildhall

13 November 2019 Reading: Hexagon

14 November 2019 Worthing: Assembly Hall

15 November 2019 Crawley: Hawth Theatre

16 November 2019 Watford: Colosseum

18 November 2019 Guildford: G-Live

19 November 2019 Aylesbury: Waterside

20 November 2019 Canterbury: Marlowe

21 November 2019 Ipswich: Corn Exchange

22 November 2019 Peterborough: Cresset

23 November 2019 Lincoln: Engine Shed

25 November 2019 Blackburn: King George’s Hall

26 November 2019 Stoke-On-Trent: Victoria Hall

27 November 2019 Llandudno: Venue Cymru

28 November 2019 Swansea: Grand Theatre

29 November 2019 Weston-Super-Mare: Playhouse

30 November 2019 Torquay: Princess Theatre