Irish comedian, writer and actor Ardal O'Hanlon is an idiot - or, as he would say, "an eejit".

He is frank and upfront about it, proud even, and it has been the key to his success.

He says: "I am an eejit, it's what I do. It is what I am and it is what I want to be.

"The word eejit does not mean idiot in the English definition. An Irish eejit is someone always up for fun who has a slightly dippy view of the world.

"His job is to pierce pomposity, to act the fool and to bring down those too big for their boots or getting that way.

He pricks poseurs, snaps at sophisticates and chips away at anyone being too grand.

"He spots the absurd and has a keen interest in life and people's relationships. An eejit can spot a fake a mile away and enjoys winding him up.

"It is certainly a great Irish tradition and the eejit is worshipped throughout the land. It ties in with our literary tradition. You could argue James Joyce was an eejit in the best sense of the word.

"Read Ulysses and you'll find some grand jokes in there. I think Joyce could have been a good stand-up comedian.

"I suppose an eejit is a person who can be serious when seriousness is called for but knows deep down in our short life span we need to be less serious and take more fun from life."

Being an eejit has certainly done no harm to O'Hanlon's career.

It served him well in his own stand-up routines, turning him into an international star as Father Dougal in the Channel 4 hit TV series Father Ted and establishing him as a household name in BBC1's sitcom My Hero, now in its fourth series.

He is now starring, again as an eejit, in a French satire, See U Next Tuesday, coming to Brighton next weekend and co-starring Nigel Havers.

O'Hanlon says: "I did the play in Dublin last year and now it's taking me to the West End. This is my debut as a stage actor and it is exciting, thrilling and very frightening. Sure, I have trod the boards of theatres before but that was doing my stand-up show. I have even done it at the Theatre Royal.

"But this is the first time I shall be doing it as an actor, as it were, and it is a pretty terrifying prospect. I have had to learn some new disciplines, which has meant a great deal of hard work.

"It is so different from doing stand-up. In stand-up you can wander off the script, sit down, have a drink or a fag, even a cup of tea.

"You enter a dialogue with the audience and although Briish audiences have always been polite to me, you do get the odd heckler to deal with. You are thinking on your feet. You have to judge the audience and decide in which direction to go.

"In this, you have to stick exactly to the script. You cannot wander from it. All your moves are scripted and you are not on your own. Any mistake can let the others down.

"It is a hard discipline but not being on your own is a bonus too. Others can help you if you do get into difficulties and there is a great feeling of camaraderie.

"Nigel Havers is so urbane and funny, not just on the stage but in real life and we've also got Patsy Kensit in the cast. She is gorgeous, so bubbly and funny.

"It is a friendly cast all round and I like the theatre lifestyle, it suits me very well. I like the idea of going to bed late, enjoying a drink after the show and a chat."

O'Hanlon has enjoyed previous visits to Brighton where he has performed stand-up many times.

He says: "It is an exciting place to visit. There are so many characters on the streets.

"A stroll along the seafront or round the Lanes can give some wonderful performances by just observing people around you. I am also a keen golfer so I hope to get in a couple of rounds while I am in the city."

See U Next Tuesday is written by Francis Verber, a specialist in French satire and farce, and has been adapted by Oscar-winning writer Ronald Harwood, who received the award for the screenplay of Roman Polanski's The Pianist last year.

Filmed as Le Diner des Cons, the play features a group of Parisians who meet regularly for dinner and invite an idiot to be ridiculed.

O'Hanlon says: "I, of course, play the idiot. I am a tax official whose hobby is making models of the Eiffel Tower and the bridge of Avignon among other things.

"I have to admit I have never actually made a model in my life, but I have friends who do. So I did my research and I don't think I will ever become a model maker.

"Nigel Havers plays the wealthy publisher who leads this crowd. He has everything: a wife, a mistress, a job he loves and this complete nincompoop as a dinner guest.

"Added to this is the fact that he has injured his back and is trapped in his apartment with me. I really cannot say much more without giving the game away as to what happens. But it is very funny and has the usual farcical twists and turns. It is a great romp for both the cast and the audience.

"Verber has won many awards for his work and I think Ronald Harwood has done a brilliant job on the adaptation. And no, we do not use fake French accents, I think that would have been a bad move".

O'Hanlon, now 37, began his comedy career while at University in Dublin. He teamed up with three other students to form the Comedy Cellar, a spot where alternative comedians would their routines.

He said: "University was a really fun time. I studied, if studied is the right word, for a degree in Communications Studies, a sort of media studies course.

"I chose it because I had no idea at all what I wanted to do. I had no career plan and, to be honest, Communications Studies seemed to be the easiest option which would give me time to think about other things.

"A group of us used to meet and swap jokes and write sketches but we really had nowhere to perform them so we set up the Comedy Cellar.

"I had never thought about performing before, there was no performing gene in my family, so it was absolutely terrifying to step onto that small stage and tell jokes. Well really it was just like talking about life.

"That first night can still give me nightmares. I can remember exactly what I was wearing and how I paced up and down for what seemed like hours before the show began, I was so nervous.

"But after I was done the exhilaration I felt was wonderful. I was so excited I think it took me a week to come down from the high I felt. That was it. I was hooked. Comedy and the stage was where I wanted to be.

"It was during those early years in Dublin that Father Ted was first offered to me. But like all TV things there can be a long gap between the talk of a show and it happening.

"I had moved to London by the time it became more than an idea and scripts were ready and Channel Four had to seek me out to offer me the role of Father Dougal.

"As soon as I read the script I was hooked, I thought it was ideal for me and very, very funny.

"I know some people perceive it as an attack on the Roman Catholic Church, but it isn't really about that at all.

"What you had on Craggy Island were three mad people, four when you count Mrs Doyle who was extremely mad, trying to get along together and always getting it wrong.

"I don't think anyone expected it to become the hit it was. We were all bowled over by the reaction to it. Suddenly I was being recognised in the street and I still get called Father Dougal today.

"What was Father Ted's secret? Probably the fact that it was so bizarre and very surreal. As well as the group in the priests' house, all our visitors were bizarre.

"And the situations too were so wonderfully odd. Remember when Father Ted got the milkman sacked? Dougal revealed an ambition to be a milkman, but the former one had put a bomb on the milk float so that if it went more than 4mph it would blow up!

"It was so odd to spend entire episode driving around the set on a milk float.

"And there were some odd happenings too. Everyone said that if I went into a shop to buy shoes while I was dressed as a priest I would get them for free.

"And I quite often went to buy a newspaper while wearing the priest's outfit and on those occasions I always got it for free".

And baby-faced, red-haired Father Dougal was besieged by middle aged and elderly women all wanting to mother him. Says O'Hanlon: "Sadly that's all they wanted to do, mother or smother me.

"But Father Ted struck a really deep core in Ireland. I think we all won awards for it and it became a must-watch series for all the family "It is much the same with My Hero, taxi drivers hail me as Thermoman and so do children. I am a strong Catholic and having three children of my own I am very much pro-family.

"My Hero is definitely a family sitcom with something for all ages as well as a bit of the bizarre and the surreal. I am very pleased at its success and cannot believe we have already put four series in the can".

O'Hanlon refuses to look much into the future. He is content to let My Hero run for a while longer and happy that See U Next Tuesday is set for London.

He said: "I think I see a future in writing as well as performing. I split my time between Dublin and London. I am happy to do more stand-up, but I think writing is going to be my thing.

"In a way it is trying to exorcise Father Ted, although I shall always be grateful for the breaks that show gave me.

"I have written one novel, a dark and hugely complex tale called Talk Of The Town, and I am working on another.

I don't want to give away too much about it, because once you start talking about a project you can go on talking about it and it never gets finished. All I will say is that it is satirical and will probably be about the media. So maybe my degree did come in useful after all.

"Film might be a future too. I have been involved in a couple of short films but big features are notoriously difficult to put together. You really don't dare to contemplate the idea.

"I am happy and content at the moment, I am doing what I want and I don't want to worry too much about the future. Let's get through to Christmas and see what's happening then".

One of O'Hanlon's co-stars in See U Next Tuesday is Patsy Kensit, who plays Marlene, the mistress of Nigel Havers' character.

Kensit, whose movie appearances have included Lethal Weapon 2 and Angels and Insects and Absolute Beginners is more famous for her reputation as a wild-child rock chick and her three marriages.

Her first marriage was to Big Audio Dynamite keyboard player Dan Donovan - brother of TV presenter Daisy. She then wed Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, with whom she had a son, James. Her last turbulent marriage - which broke down more than two years ago - was to Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher. They too had a son, Lennon.

After splitting from Gallagher she had a brief fling with soccer pundit Ally McCoist, but has now ruled out any further marriages to musicians and is concentrating on bringing up her two children.

Her previous stage appearances include a stint in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Richard III.

Call 01273 328488 for tickets, costing £15 to £23. Evening shows 7.45pm. Thursday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm.