WHEN it comes to clever one-liners, Canadian comic Stewart Francis is in a class of his own.

The stand-up comes to the Pavilion Theatre on Sunday, where he’ll pack in as many jokes as he possibly can during his time in front of the Bournemouth crowd: “I evolved into it, but telling one-liners and jokes is my favourite kind of comedy quite honestly.

“I don’t need people to know who I am or assume that they’d want to know who I am, so I just steer clear of all that and do my silly gags and then we all get on with our lives,” says Stewart Francis.

To say Francis has been embraced in Britain is an understatement. His brand of killer one-liners quickly earned him rapturous acclaim and a spot as support act on Ricky Gervais’ Science tour that came to the BIC in 2009 and 2010.

“It was interesting to travel around for the better part of a year in that elite world in which he lives in, something I wouldn’t really want to partake in. He’s done incredibly well to have withstood that constant scrutiny.

“I’m a huge fan of The Office so it was nice to be in the presence of genius. His words, not mine.

“At times, he’s playful as a kitten but there’s also a serious side to the man which goes with being a hi-falutin businessman.”

The rise of Stewart Francis has been down to a mix of factors. Obviously being a great comic helps, but he has also arrived in the UK at a time when the comedy scene is actually being taken seriously by TV producers “It’s been a wonderful three or four years for me and it’s down to some TV appearances that have really put me on a lot of people’s radar and I followed that up with what some people would deem to be good comedy.

“I guess it’s a case of right place right time and being able to parlay 21 years of accumulated material and give that to the people.”