From script to screen, renowned comedy writer Phil Differ is back with a brand new show of two halves at The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock.

In the first, a new stand-up routine built around his unique observations of life, in the second more tales from behind the scenes of your favourite comedy programmes.

From writing gags for ‘Spitting Image’ and ‘A Kick Up the Eighties’ to being a director of The Comedy Unit, the company that gave you – among others – ‘Naked Video’, ‘City Lights’, ‘Rab C Nesbitt’, ‘Scotch and Wry’, ‘Only an Excuse?’, ‘Chewin’ the Fat’ and ‘Still Game’ - to performing on the stand-up circuit. Phil’s successes and misadventures are all included in this no holds barred evening of comedy that draws from a career rapidly approaching its fortieth year.

What really happens at award ceremonies? Who was the funniest of all the stars he’s worked with? What’s it really like on the stand up circuit? Just some of the questions Phil will answer during the show or in the question/answer session that follows.

Having worked with many of the greats of comedy over 40 years including Rikki Fulton, Gregor Fisher, Elaine C Smith, Rory Bremner, Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, the first half of Phil's show is stand-up, followed by showbiz tales in the second part of the show.

Speaking to the 'News', Phil said: "I was very proud to be involved in a great period in Scottish comedy when we were very much at the cutting edge. The Scottish Comedy Unit in the 1980s was considered a centre of excellence and we even had contributions from the likes of Hugh Grant, Andy Hamilton (the creator of family sitcom hit Outnumbered), and Paul Whitehouse from the Fast Show.

"I was script editor when the idea of Rab C Nesbitt was dreamed up by Ian Patterson - the premise was a Govan guy with a bandage on his head and having a rant about the world. Even reading the script alone, you were laughing a lot, and Gregor Fisher took on the iconic role one rotten night in Arygll Street, and we filmed it, and we knew we had something very special. The tv audiences really loved it, so much so that even when Gregor was out in public he had to point out to people he was not Rab C Nesbitt! Future Doctor Who Peter Capaldi actually had a very small part in the very first Rab C Nesbitt tv spin-off, and the show was to become a hit not just in Scotland, but around the UK."

* See Phil Differ at The Beacon Arts Centre in 'That's Another Story' on Friday 3 November at 8pm. Tickets - beaconartscentre.co.uk