"The last time I was at the Dome was to see Van Morrison," says Rory Bremner.

"Van didn't turn up for the soundcheck so they got me to impersonate him.

It wasn't very good because he basically just mumbles. But I do remember doing Have I Told You Lately? as Bill Clinton and Brown Eyed Girl as Nelson Mandela."

Having started out on the London cabaret circuit while still studying for a degree in French and German, Britain's foremost impressionist began his career impersonating sports commentators before he realised "if you could do voices, you could actually say something".

Now a one-man opposition party with a reputation for up-to-the-minute topical satire, he has a repertoire of over 100 personalities with which, alongside a winning combination of humour and intellectual curiosity, he has filled a television series a year since 1996.

But he has, he reckons, neglected his stand-up. And so, after a seven-year break from the live arena and despite his fear of going without the auto-cue, Bremner is currently touring a new stage show, which he describes as "Bremner, Bird And Fortune meets Question Time meets An Audience With Tony Benn".

"I want to keep this as simple as possible," he says, "just stand-up comedy, as many impressions as I can cram in and a Q&A at the end. I don't generally have a lot of confidence to ad-lib so it'll be good to be put on the spot by the audience's questions.

"And, of course, if I don't like the question I can always answer it as somebody else. Brighton's in the second week so by then I should have either hanged myself or come out smiling."

We speak to Bremner on the day Blunkett resigns. Flitting between meetings in a speeding London taxi which nearly takes out the entire cast of Oliver ("We're surrounded by all these kids in Victorian costume, how mad is that?"), he has yet to hear the news.

"My goodness me," he says. "Well, I suppose the great thing about Blunkett resigning is that I've already got about five minutes' worth of material on that from the last time.

"The thing about Labour is the resignations aren't for life, they're just for Christmas. Blunkett must hate this time of year - if I was doing the show today I think I'd probably have to do him singing 'I'm dreaming of a shite Christmas'."

From Michael Howard's sinister grin to Gordon Brown's chin wobble, the accuracy of Bremner's impressions extends far beyond the voice.

But he is, he says, nevertheless still reeling from the verdict of his four-year-old daughter, who recently pointed at a picture of Blair in the paper and said, "Look, there's daddy".

"I do Blair as I think he really is," he says, "and I've always felt he has this element of self-righteous exasperation about him, like, 'Well look, come on, y'know, why can't you understand this?' But Blair's changed over the years. To begin with he was Mr Please Everybody, all things to all men, a little bit like David Cameron now. It's what we call the Will Young phase.

"Now I think Blair must wake up in the morning and think, 'How did I get into this situation?' because unless he pulls something incredible out of the hat he'll be remembered as the prime minster who took us to war with Iraq.

"Sartre had this thing about 3 o' clock in the afternoon being too late to start anything and too early to finish. I think Blair's got to that point in his government.

Starts at 8pm. Tickets cost £19.50 and £18.50, call 01273 709709.