It's his first musical role and his first time treading the boards... but Ross Noble is having a blast in The Producers .
The Geordie comic joined the national tour of the iconic Mel Brooks musical three weeks ago as Franz Liebkind, the crazed Nazi who writes the play at the heart of the show.
Alongside Cory English (Max Bialystock) and fellow comedian Jason Manford (Leo Bloom), Noble is heading to Leeds next week for a six-night run at the Grand Theatre, opening Monday.
And judging by his enthusiasm, it's going to be a fantastic week for theatregoers.
"It's really great fun," he said: "I love the show anyway, so to actually be in it?! I'm enjoying the bits that I'm doing and half the time I just sit at the side of the stage and watch the show."
The stand-up star, who turned 39 today (happy birthday Ross!) was called into read for the part of Franz — his first ever audition.
"They approached me and said 'we want you to come in for a meeting' which was actually an audition," he said. "I've never auditioned for anything in my life and there I was at the piano having a bit of a sing!"
Now Noble is three weeks into the tour and had embraced the challenge of his first musical role.
"I can't emphasise enough how amazing the cast are," he said. "Jason [Manford] is brilliant and Corey English was on Broadway, David Bedella won an Olivier Award.
"I turned up in the rehearsal room and went, 'this isn't right!' I thought, OK, I'm going to have to lift my game here."
Having recently returned from a stand-up tour in Australia, Noble is now settling in to the theatre tour schedule.
"The biggest thing for me is the matinees," he said. "It's lunch time and you're going 'I'm off to do a show now', which is just weird. You do the matinee and then you have an hour and a half before you go back on and do it again!"
But it seems his zany stand-up style has made the part of Franz a good fit — and resulted in some interesting reviews.
Noble said: "Somebody sent me a quote from a review that said 'Ross Noble was born to play Franz Liebkind' and I said 'hang on, an insane Nazi?!
"But here's so much in the character and it's the perfect role for me. Equally the best feedback that we've had about the show is about Jason Manford playing Leo Bloom.
"Leo is very timid and scared as a character and then there's Jason — he's a big lad who's got very much an alpha male character. Jason completely disappears into this sort of timid, meek person, and I think people will be quite surprised."
When his run as Franz ends in six weeks, Noble doesn't have much planned except a bit of a break and a well-earned holiday. Having toured Australia and completed filming for his TV show for Dave, Freewheeling , it's been a busy year so far.
But this may not be the last time we see him treading the boards — and he's certainly open to another theatrical opportunity.
"I'm a stand-up comic first and foremost and I like to stay match fit with that, you can't leave it too long.
"But who knows? I'm guessing I'm not going to be playing the Phantom anytime soon... but then again who knows?"
The Producers is at Leeds Grand Theatre Monday June 8 - Saturday June 13.
Tickets are on sale, priced from £18.50 to £40.
To book, click here or call the Box Office on 0844 848 2700.
