It's been a long time since a comedy show prompted such a crazed stampede for tickets.

Such is the demand for Little Britain Live, an extra seven dates have been added to the Brighton run, taking the total up to nine, and on Ebay tickets have reached the £100 mark.

If reviews so far are anything to go by, fans should find the frenzy worth it. Without the constraints of TV censorship, the show's creators, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, take the silliness to a another level, reaching new heights of grotesque "I don't want to look but I can't help it" slapstick, which will see them touring into the middle of next year.

Things apparently start with Walliams' character, the curly-haired carer Lou, looking for "disabled" client, Andy. As Lou peers into the crowd, Andy finds a novel way to arrive on the stage and into his wheelchair.

Soon comes miserly stage hypnotist Kenny Craig, who lulls his fiancee into picking a cheap engagement ring; the fat and ghastly Bubbles De Vere, who whips her kit off to clear her debts; fallen kids' TV presenter Des Wiki-woo! Kay, who lures audience members on stage for a game of hide the sausage; and then there's Fat Fighters dragon Marjorie Dawes, who takes her sadistic humiliation one step further by tormenting members of the audience.

Apparently, the jaw-dropping antics of Sebastian, the Prime Minister's assistant, are worth the ticket price alone. Director Jeremy Sams adds theatrical finesse to the show, which comes complete with the all-important Tom Baker voiceover.

The live re-workings have seen fans turn up dressed as Little Britain characters, so expect to see plenty of trackie-clad chavettes, posh "ladies" with beards and maybe even a miniature Dennis Waterman.

It's these oddball characters which have taken Lucas and Walliams to stardom. The two first met as teenagers at the National Youth Theatre. They met again at Bristol University, where they began working on sketches together - and Little Britain was born.

The skewed take on modern life began its run on Radio 4. It soon moved up the ranks and was snatched by BBC Radio 2 before finally appearing on TV, as a pilot for BBC3, in February 2003.

The rest of the series was broadcast in full the following September and shot from cult viewing to the channel's most successful programme. The BBC opted to run the series again on BBC2 and it has gone to win a huge pile of awards, including a BAFTA.

The current series, now on BBC1, has achieved record viewing figures, although like any good comedy it has not been without controversy, with some critics decidedly unimpressed with its twisted, lavatorial content.

In a nationwide poll run by a TV magazine, children aged between six and 16 named Little Britain their second favourite comedy (The Simpsons came first), sparking a debate among child psychologists, who cannot decide if Walliams and Lucas are positive role models or not.

Predictably, this is a fact the two relish, as underlined by Walliams' statement: "I think it's wonderful that you've got ten-year-old boys running around school playgrounds calling out 'I'm a laydee' or 'I'm the only gay in the village'. We celebrate difference."

Starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost 22.50-£27.50. SOLD OUT.