Analog.Ue - the National Theatre

He's won the coveted Perrier Award for comedy at Edinburgh and his peers regularly name him as the best of his generation. Meet Daniel Kitson. Well, that's easier said than done. This comic genius has a reclusive reputation and demand for tickets to his last show at the National was so high that it temporarily crashed the website. He hates publicity, releases few details ahead of his shows, and no longer does telly (he had a big falling-out). Now he’s back, flirting with theatre once again – a medium which is, he jokes, no different from stand-up except that he wears a different hat.

His latest offering, as its title suggests, promises all things analogue: VCR, vinyl, tape players. Characteristically cagey, he hasn’t given much away about this ‘pre-recorded story’, but it’s likely to touch on the current fashionable nostalgia for all things retro.

Part stand-up, part storyteller, Kitson’s work is quiet and intimate, with a philosophical tone that separates him from brasher, cruder comics. Indeed, there is a fine line between his comedy, which juggles ideas as much as jokes, and his gentle, contemplative storytelling shows.

His recurring role in the sitcom Phoenix Nights ended in a spectacular row with fellow comedian Peter Kay, since when he has famously shunned television. This means live shows such as this one are the only chance his devoted fans have to catch his work. He refuses to give interviews and denies critics tickets to his shows, causing The Guardian to dub him the 'Salinger of stand-up', but this hasn't harmed his cult following.

If you want to find out what all the fuss is about, have your finger poised over the mouse when tickets go on sale on Thursday 11th December (12 noon for National members, 2pm for the general public). And for those who like to be in the know, we recommend signing up to Kitson's mailing list for updates on all his latest work-in-progress showings and lashings of his hilarious, endearingly rambling prose.

Tickets: £12

Address and Map: South Bank, London SE1 9PX

Underground: Waterloo