A lot has changed since Sir Lenny Henry's last talk show in 2009.

He has become a grandfather, was named Knight, and has expanded his career in writing, acting and music creation.

However, comedy is still his first love, which is why when Perth Arts Festival asked him to have a one-off show for their 2025 event, he said.

He joked: “When you’re in a set in Broad, it’s all about corpses and you hope someone will misunderstand hit the bakery.”

“You do want to have more interesting lines. I think Comedy is a huge therapist, underrated.

“It doesn’t have its own category at the Oscars, and I think it’s awful. Comedy deserves more respect.

"Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin. Many of the great comedians in the world have never been given flowers, and I think we need to start to appreciate the beauty of it."

Born in Worcestershire in 1958, Sir Lenny has been performing since he was 16 years old, first as Impressionist of the TV talent show and then as a brilliant comedian.

As the most prominent black British comedian on television in the 1980s, he has an incredible influence, and much of his material celebrates and mimics his African Caribbean roots.

He said his parents - Winifred and Winston - continued to inspire his choice.

"I remember looking at my mom and seeing her working hard for us - she had four jobs," he said. "My dad died shortly after he quit. It made me realize that I didn't want to quit. I had more to pay.

“I love my audience and I want to show them that I’m not only an impressionist character, Lenny, a writer, Lenny or an actor, Lenny.”

Comics Lenny has been keen to return for a while. He often appears on company shows and has been working with regular writer Max Davis to come up with what he calls a "comedy speech."

“Showing has always been something I’ve always been proud of and wanted to continue,” he said. “But I like the idea of ​​having an hour of comedy in my pocket. If somewhere there, we could use Perth as the foundation, that would be a good thing.”

The night will be opened briefly by Perth-born comedian Fred Macaulay, followed by a show by Sir Lenny. He will then ask the audience questions about his 50-year career.

It was a career that took him from summer to mainstream TV and alternative comedy.

In 1985, he co-founded the charity comic relief with filmmaker Richard Curtis and was one of the 150 comics in 1988 that raised more than £15 million in Red Nose Day TV.

He retired last year as host of the show, but said he remains a lot of involvement with co-founder and president of life.

"It's a huge chapter, and it's still in progress," he said.

“I still do project visits and movies, but not show them at night, so you won’t see me on TV.”

He said he will still attend special events to find new talents and sponsors.

He compared it with the decision of the president of Birmingham City University to resign eight years later. There he established Sir Lenny Henry's Center for Media Diversity during this period.

He recently returned to the university for his inaugural speech, demanding broader support for the diversity program - and criticizing President Trump for attacking them.

“Diversity and inclusion mean that your mom, your gran, your girlfriend, your gay best friend, and if someone says we won’t have it anymore, then most people around the world won’t have the opportunity to attend the table.”

“We want everyone to be on the table, not just white people, thank you.”

As a producer, as well as writer and actor, Sir Lenny said he was happy to see wider representation at last week’s BAFTA Awards, but worried that the change was limited to screens.

“Compare those who perform, people who get up and receive the awards compared to those who give the awards,” he said.

"It's still a major cis-white male landscape. Hey, I love cis-white males. I've worked with them all my life and they're the only person I've met. Only in the last decade has it changed, but it's still a very white world.

“Whoever makes these decisions about our lives is one-sided and that may change.”

When Sir Lenny was happy to try out his comedy habits, a new script that was scheduled to open in August, and the two new books in Live meant he was unlikely to have time to return to the comics.

Things change when it comes to the focus of his comedy.

"I'm 66 now and my life has completely changed," he said. "If you see a black man in the garden center, it's usually me. I'm interested in the gentleman's staying up late and becoming the gentleman who stays in the house. Potato chips, gin and tonics, TV and bed, bed at 10 o'clock."

"Then why the garden center sells clothes? When I go to Prada to buy a nice shovel, you know that things have changed."

Regardless of his joke, Sir Lenny promises the same silly and laid-back style used in the children's show Tiswas - and admires friend and cartoonist Billy Connolly.

"Billy Connolly worked hard to make it look like it was just thinking about something," he said. "And he could walk on stage anywhere and make him feel like he was just chatting with you, which happens to be the most lively chat of your life.

“I always wanted that messy, fun and cute feeling and I think I still know.”

A night with Sir Lenny Henry takes place at Perth Concert Hall on Friday, May 30 at 19:30 in the Perth Festival.