There have been a lot of rumours recently about reviving the cult early 90’s TV show Crystal Maze.

Why not? We’re in the middle of a whole 90’s revival thing, with Blur said to be making new music, TFI Friday about to bounce back onto our screens – and Cast are touring again to sell out crowds (as we report today!).

And Noel Fielding has been rumoured to be the new presenter of an action show where contestants take part in a series of challenges in order to win “time crystals”.

A cult show calls for a cult hero to host it – only Noel knows nothing about plans for the revival.

The shaggy-haired boho-goth who is one half of the much-missed Mighty Boosh and former team captain from Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

He brings his first live tour in five years to The Sands Centre in Carlisle on December 3, a gig rescheduled from February that’s pretty much a sell-out.

An Evening with Noel Fielding is billed as a mixture of music, comedy, animation and sketches from TV characters such as The Moon and Fantasy Man.

He says he’d be keen to take part in the Crystal Maze revival, but reckons he may have innocently helped start the rumours.

“I would love to do it, but they have not phoned me up,” he explains.

“At some point I think I said something like ‘I would love to do a show like the Crystal Maze, I thought it was quite a good programme.

“Producers know where I am and who my agent is.

“I would like to do it, but they have to ask me directly.”

His chance of taking over as the next Dr Who was spiked by the appointment of Peter Capaldi as the cult time-traveller.

“Every year I’m on that top 10 list,” he mock-moans.

“Me and Julian should do Dr Who. I could be his slightly ditzy glamorous assistant.”

Julian is Julian Barratt, co-conspirator in The Mighty Boosh, Howard Moon opposite Fielding’s Vince Noir in the hit series.

Barratt is off doing his own things, but the two keep in touch and Fielding isn’t ruling out any kind of a reunion.

In fact, he’s not ruling himself out of doing anything once his tour is over.

“I think he’s doing a film with Steve Coogan and possibly Kenneth Branagh?” he says.

It has been years since his last live tour and Fielding admits to a few butterflies this time round.

“The last time I did a big tour was with the Boosh which was Wembley and the O2 Arena. I’ve not been back out since then.

“I was scared to get back out but I was missing the live stuff.”

As for the future, he adds: “I’m literally having meetings every week. I could do them 100 per cent of my time, but I have to decide which direction I want to go in.

“I have never had so much time off and I’m desperately trying not to jump in , but I’m bored and I need to start getting into something.

“I’ve got a film idea I’m quite excited about and there’s a TV show that there are channels interested in.

“Doing the live thing was interesting. It made me enjoy comedy again because I can hear people laughing.

“In a sound studio you don’t hear them laughing.”

Fielding knows his surreal comedy can divide people, but says: "Some people might think they’re allergic to you, but if they come to a live show and see everyone is laughing, it’s hard to say that it’s not funny. It was the same with the Boosh. Sceptics were convinced when they came to our shows.

"As a stand-up, you spend all day being nervous. But as soon as you step onto the stage and get the first laugh, it’s magic time. It’s like being in a dream. It’s a real buzz."

"I touch on turning 40 and my Peter Pan complex. Because I'm now 40, I try to do a bleak bit, but of course it soon becomes completely fantastical. I attempt to go gritty, but I can't help going fantasy."

As an example, Noel says he has been working up the character of Chicken Man. "He's like a figure from a Jodorowsky Spaghetti Western. He's half man, half chicken. He has to fight a bandit, and he's got Tourette's. He's like a cross between A Streetcar Named Desire and Foghorn Leghorn. He keeps flipping in and out of madness.

"There are certain things that you just know will work. At one point, I play a herbal tea bag. I knew that would strike a chord because everyone has tea.

“The Chicken Man was more of a gamble, but people really seem to like him. They’re also really enjoying a section where Tom plays Antonio Banderas and Michael plays Hawkeye, the living embodiment of the tennis line judge. It’s great to think up these ideas and then watch them take flight."

The comedian attempts to sum up the style of the show. "It's so abstract. It's like you turn the radio dial, and something random comes on. You're not quite sure what it is, but you warm to it."

So what does the comic hope that audiences will take away from An Evening with Noel Fielding? "I hope they have a really good time," Noel declares. "I hope they laugh their heads off. I've always been very concerned not to sell people short. But the only danger is that the show ends up as long as the film Gandhi!" 

Tickets for An Evening With Noel Fielding on December 3 cost £25 plus booking from The Sands Centre Box Office on 01228 633766 or www.thesandscentre.co.uk .