Robin Ince doesn’t want to give you what you want. He wants to give you more than that.

Famous for his brand of science-based comedy, the Berkhamsted funnyman wants to fight against the “dumbing down“ of popular culture and has teamed up with fellow stand-up Josie Long to bring audiences something outside the mainstream.

The duo, who met on the comedy circuit 16 years ago when she was just a teenager, have taken their Comedy Central podcast Utter Shambles out on the road and will be at Jacksons Lane in Highgate tonight (Friday) and Canada Water next month.

This is in between Robin getting material ready for his numerous solo shows in venues across London and the rest of the UK and recording more of his BBC Radio 4 show The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. Oh and spending time with his partner and six-year-old son.

In short, he’s a busy man, and talking to him it’s easy to tell he is the sort who’s brain rarely switches off and you’re much more likely to find him reading a book on the human mind than watching Celebrity Big Brother.

Born and raised in Chorleywood he says: “As a teenager I would go into London and go to subterranean rooms and see alternative comedy. That’s where my passion began.

“I always wanted to be a performer and writer and at 15 going to these clubs was a tremendously exotic thing. I would go to a small musty room and see someone singing angry songs and then a juggler and fire eater.

“From my early 20s I started doing stand-up and that’s been my life. Then 12 years ago it became things about science and philosophy, and starting up these weird clubs where I would read from Mills and Boon and giant killer crab novels.“

When it comes to Utter Shambles he says you can expect “off the cuff conversations and just taking whatever idea was in our heads“, which will range from sexual politics and the right of women to breastfeed in public to extracts from killer crab novels, ranting about the awfulness of the Doctor Who after-party and how Michael Gove makes the blood vessels in his eyeball burst.

His new show In and Out of his Mind will start in March and explore the mysteries of the human mind and how our neurons change as we get older.

The dad-of-one, who admires V for Vendetta writer Alan Moore, says: “There’s a presumption in the mainstream media that people are thick and just want colourful things that don’t challenge them. They give them more celebrities in the jungle and Lee Ryan in a hot tub. That’s all that they want.“

He adds: “I think there’s a fear of challenging people. But I love the old BBC idea, the classic line of Lord Reith (the first director general) was when asked if he was going to give people what they wanted, he replied: ‘No I’m going to give them something far better than that’.

“I think taking that risk of failure and talking about that weird poem you have found from a strange book, quite often you will find audiences will listen to what you have to say.“

He adds: “I think people are often being undersold a lot of the time.

“I don’t watch much television. I watched Sherlock over Christmas as I’m a Mark Gatiss fan, but most of the time I just sit scribbling and listening to music and sometimes watch things late at night.

“I’m one of those weird people who hopes there will be a weird documentary about bus travel. I never thought a history of lay-bys would be so fascinating. Many things that are mundane the more you stand at them the more they actually become beautiful and many things that are flashy and full of fireworks become emptier the more you stare at them.“

Robin says working with Josie, who is 13 years his junior, encourages him to keep pushing his own boundaries.

“I just love the experience of standing on stage with someone else where you are just mucking around. You enjoy the experience of being with them, laughing with them on stage, coming up with ridiculous ideas together and creating something that in one way will only exist for one night.“

He adds: “It’s very easy in stand-up to go “oh well I’ve got my set that works“ and stick to that and ten years later you realise you are saying the same things. So to work with people who take risks reminds you to take them as well.

“I don’t go abseiling or bungee jumping, so the one thing I can do is risk it on stage.“

  • Jacksons Lane, Archway Road, Highgate, Friday, January 17, 8pm. Details: 020 8341 4421, jacksonslane.org.uk See more details of Robin’s shows at robinince.com