As a stand-up, Tim Vine has built his reputation on firing a barrage of one-liners at audiences and he will be drawing on all of his pun-making skills when he takes to the stage as the dim-witted Muddles in Richmond Theatre’s pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which opens today.

Will Gore: This is your second crack at a Richmond Theatre panto after your appearance in Jack and the Beanstalk in 2006 – are you glad to be back?

Tim Vine: Definitely. I had a great time first time around. I think we are doing 63 shows for Snow White, we did 73 last time, but I felt like I could have gone on for another couple of weeks. It is about having a bit of routine – usually my life has got absolutely no routine whatsoever, so when I suddenly get one I like it.

WG: Will there be much crossover between your pantomime performances and your stand-up routines?

TV: I will certainly put in a few of my gags – the actual jokes work better in the evening when there are some adults in the crowd. At matinées, when it is mainly kids, more often than not you can be an idiot and do alot of mugging. For some reason, kids warm to that kind of character. I’m not sure why.

WG: Have your panto experi-ences helped inspire any gags in your stand-up set?

TV: I can give you a preview of one joke that will be in my next tour that is pantomime-related: One of the first jobs I ever had in this business was playing the back end of a pantomime wasp – I thought I was the bee’s knees.

WG: Is it fair to say your character, Muddles, is a bit of a loveable idiot?

TV: You say loveable idiot, but I say he is a complete moron. In a way I’ve practiced being Muddles for many years – my house is a complete mess – so I’m just carrying that on. It’s method acting in a way.

WG: Do stand-up and panto require similar performance skills?

TV: I always think panto is perfect for stand-ups and I’m sure my experience in comedy helps. With stand-up, you are looking straight at the audience and making direct contact and, with panto, you are allowed to do that, too.

The other similarity with stand-up is, because you have that direct contact, you can’t go on automatic pilot too much. It’s great to be part of a story but, at the same time, you can give a knowing wink to the audience – you can’t really do that in Hamlet.

WG: Did you go to many pantomimes as a child?

TV: We went a few times but really it was missing from our lives. You get the feeling when you come to places like Richmond Theatre that it is a fixture for families and we never had that much.

WG: As well as your previous panto performances, you also recently starred in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out, but could you ever see yourself moving into serious acting?

TV: Acting does free me up to some extent but I don’t think I could ever do proper acting – three months of Chekhov or something like that. It would get depressing – the idea of sitting in a chair and moaning for two hours a night doesn’t thrill me. I can see why people would want to do it but imagine doing it night after night! With panto you just get positive vibes off the show all the time.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Richmond Theatre, The Green, December 4 to January 10, for more information and to book tickets, visit ambassador tickets.com