"I don't buy into this thing that politics is boring. It’s tragic, farcically funny and sad. It ticks all the boxes of theatre and comedy.”

So says The Independent’s chief political commentator Steve Richards as he brings his revamped solo show Rock ’N’ Roll Politics to Shoreham.

Having tried his hand at stand-up in his early 20s, Richards was inspired to return to the stage as he saw political discourse changing with the rise of Twitter over the past four years.

“We’re all doing politics in isolation, tweeting in a study or a room with nobody else around,” he says. “I now write political columns and press send – I never meet anyone who reads them. I think the live stage is the best form of communication.”

Rock ’N’ Roll Politics began as a regular night in London’s King’s Place before he took the show on a sold-out run to the Edinburgh Festival.

The show that is coming to Shoreham has been reworked from the version that came to last year’s Brighton Festival, with Richards asking the audience to throw out topics on the night.

“It’s nerve-wracking,” he admits. “But it’s one of the areas where I think live performance is great.

“I have always had a question and answer session at the end of each show, which would go into all sorts of weird and different areas.

“You never quite know what is going to happen – whether it’s going to be funny or serious. There’s always a degree of unpredictability.”

With a general election looming, he believes politics is particularly intense at the moment.

“We have a coalition where they are all starting to hate each other, and an election where no one is sure of the outcome,” he says.

“There are fewer big figures around but we have some epic dramas playing out. The Liberal Democrats are in deep trouble – they are fighting for their lives as there is still a huge amount of anger.

“But politics is such a weird game. They could lose seats but there might be another hung Parliament, meaning Nick Clegg could be deputy Prime Minister for another five years.

“In the show I invite the audience to be Clegg for ten minutes – they all head for the bar and come back with double whiskeys to get psyched up for it!”

He loves the space the live stage allows him and his own take on satire – which he describes as pro-politics comedy.

“The satire of the Have I Got News For You-type is past its sell-by date,” he says. “People like Ian Hislop are wealthier, better-known and have more platforms than most politicians – and they are the ones saying politicians are dangerous!

“I explore the dilemmas these political leaders face. On the surface they appear to be acting in ways that seem insane but get inside their heads and you realise the nightmares they face.

“Tony Blair once said every day he faced dilemmas that came down to: ‘Do I cut my throat or slit my wrists?’. I present the audience with various dilemmas that politicians face today.”

Very few platforms have the space to examine politics in such detail.

“Everything is so black and white in the media,” he says. “If you’re Newsnight or the Today Programme you only get a maximum of two minutes to explain something really complicated. With this show we can get into it – quite a lot of serious thinking goes on!”

A subject which is coming up regularly is Russell Brand’s infamous interview with Jeremy Paxman about his political apathy.

“I think it’s dangerous,” says Richards. “Brand touched a nerve but it has got to be challenged. Everyone has got to get out and vote.

“If you are over 65 you get money thrown at you because you are the group that goes out and votes – millionaires over 65 get free bus passes. But people under 25 have tuition fees and have to pay rents because politicians know they don’t vote.

“There’s also an assumption that politicians are all the same and are boring. It’s never boring – the people who keep and retain power affect people’s lives.”

As well as talking about some of the big political names, Richards also steps into their personalities.

“As a journalist I have few skills but I can impersonate people,” says Richards.

“I spend a lot of time with politicians and watching them so they almost become a part of me. You can’t help pick up the eccentricities they all try so hard to hide with their public personas.

“You see the absurdities as they try to project something they are not. You can’t help pick it up – what they try to do in public is so exaggerated and magnified.

“George Osborne had media training and came out looking slightly sillier than when he went in. You can’t blame them when they are so exposed but the end result can be so silly sometimes!”