English comedian and presenter Frank Skinner claims he will ‘pay homage’ to music legend George Formby when he visits the island for the first time in November.

Skinner is performing at the Gaiety Theatre on Sunday, November 3 for his show ‘30 Years of Dirt’ - his first ever visit to the Isle of Man.

Following a sell-out UK and Ireland Spring tour, extra tour dates for the show have been added, which includes the Gaiety Theatre.

Skinner’s live career began in 1987 when he spent £400 of his last £435 booking a room at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Four years later in 1991, he returned to the city and beat fellow nominees Jack Dee and Eddie Izzard to take home the prestigious comedy prize ‘The Perrier Award’.

As well as hosting hugely popular shows such as ‘The Frank Skinner Show’, ‘Room 101’ and ‘Frank Skinner’s Opinionated’, Frank also wrote and recorded the iconic football anthem ‘Three Lions’ alongside David Baddiel and Lightning Seeds.

It is the only song in existence to have become the UK number one on four separate occasions by the same artists.

In 2023, Frank was appointed an MBE by Princess Anne for his services to entertainment.

Speaking to Media Isle of Man ahead of the show in November, Frank said: ‘I’ve never actually been to the Isle of Man before.

‘There’s a George Formby statue isn’t there? I must come and pay homage to that.’

Frank starred in a documentary film about the life of George Formby in 2011, detailing the music star’s rise to fame and continued popularity while performing his songs and playing the ukulele.

Talking about the theme of his show ‘30 Years of Dirt’, Frank said: ‘I wish I had a big, elaborate theme I could run by you, because I know that has become the way that comedy shows are presented.

‘The only real theme to it is that I've been doing stand-up comedy now for about 30 years, and for some reason, my stand-up act has always been considerably ruder than the rest of my work.

‘I've never quite worked out why that is, although I grew up with those kind of jokes at school and in the pub. I've made some attempts in recent years to get a bit more sophisticated, but anyone who comes to the show will say that’s largely been a failure.’

Frank also detailed how he likes to interact with the crowd during his shows. He added: ‘To me, there’s no point in doing live stand-up without interacting.

‘I've never been what I would call a “bedroom mirror comedian”, someone who just goes up and does it. If there's a lot of people looking at me, I need to speak to them. It makes every night a bit different, and you never know what's going to be said and what's going to come up - that’s exciting!’

If you wish to purchase tickets for the show on November 3, you can visit www.villagaiety.com/whats-on/frank-skinner-30-years-of-dirt/