James Rampton on comedy

Self-deprecation is Victoria Wood's middle name. "Sex is going out of fashion," she tells a rapt audience. "It's a little trend I've started. Somebody's actually written a book called, How to be a Celibate. Well, I could have told them. It's very easy. You just marry someone who thinks foreplay is like an anti-rust warranty: one application lasts five years."

As a stand-up, she is saddled with this reputation for modesty. "I'm working on not being self-deprecating," Wood (right) claims. "But it's a British thing, I was born with it. I couldn't come on stage and tell them how marvellous I am. It's much more like, `I had come here to entertain you, but I can see you're busy so I won't detain you for any longer than is necessary'."

This self-effacing, essentially British approach has won her a legion of fans, who feel she is "one of us". Like them, she is worried about the babysitter and the manic energy of the step-class teacher. In the breadth of her appeal, Wood is unrivalled in British comedy. It helps that she doesn't "pitch it at anyone in particular". "If I'd ever heard Blur, I could make jokes about them, but I'm getting like a High Court judge as I grow older. `Boy George? Who's that?'."

Victoria Wood's tour opens at De Montfort Hall, Leicester (0116-233 3111) tonight and tomorrow and continues at Sheffield City Hall (0114- 273 5295) Mon