Canadian stand-up Tom Stade has been making a name for himself recently.

He has headlined everywhere from New York to Johannesburg, performed at comedy festivals around the world and entertained the troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Falklands.

But it took an intervention from a certain Frankie Boyle to really catapult him into the UK limelight.

Tom was co-star and co-writer of Boyle’s Tramadol Nights, on Channel 4, which gained notoriety for a joke about Katie Price and her son Harvey.

“No-one saw that coming,” said Tom. “It was really just a throw away. We didn’t think anything more about it and then, pow, it all went crazy.

“To be honest, she did us a favour because up until then it was a great show without an audience and through what she did, she gave us one.”

His time spent on Tramadol has led to material which Tom described as a lot edgier than his previous stuff.

“I took a couple of years off and then came back with this show,” he said.“I wanted to write something completely different after hanging out with Frankie.”

* Tom’s national tour, What Year Was That?, has been extended and he will be at the Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, on October 12 at 8.30pm. Tickets cost £13.50 and £11.50 for concessions, and are available on 01206 500900.