TV duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer talk ahead of Birmingham show

Vic and Bob – or, to coin the title used for their present tour – Reeves and Mortimer, met at a pub in south London.

Vic was playing in his Vic Reeves' Big Night Out, at The Goldsmiths Tavern. The show was a hit and it soon started attracting well-known comics and TV types, including Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Jonathan Ross and Alan Yentob.

The duo were due to tour a year ago but had to pull some of the shows after Bob underwent triple bypass surgery. Now, however, they're back with a show called 25 Years of the Poignant Moments – a two-hour romp through their greatest hits.

Bob is looking forward to the shows: "I'm fitter than I was before. Last autumn I thought I had a chest infection and went to see the doctor, and he said I should have my heart looked at, just in case. Five days later, I was under the knife. It came completely out of the blue. I think my arteries were 95 per cent blocked.

"I found out I needed heart surgery on Thursday, I made a will on Friday, then found out I couldn't get married to Lisa (now-wife Lisa Matthews) because you have to give 28 days' notice. But my consultant said I was incredibly ill, so we got special permission. On the Monday I got married at 9.30am then went to hospital for heart surgery at 10am."

Vic was worried: "I immediately started scouring the newspapers to see if there was anyone else I could do a tour with! Yes, of course I was worried. You don't want your best mate to end up with anything wrong with him."

The duo asked fans to help them decide which characters to take on the road. Bob said: "We went on Twitter and said, 'what do you want to see?' We've used that as a guide. There'll be Man With The Stick, Mulligan and O'Hare, Donald and Davey Stott and Judge Nutmeg. It's all very childish clowning around."

Their act has changed considerably over the years and fans will be able to observe their metamorphosis. "When we did Big Night Out, there was no chance in terms of doing a show in a pub and then being on telly. Now, I think people can see a career path with it."

The duo have worked with plenty of celebrities during the years and one of the most difficult was Jordan.

Bob says: "Jordan was Jordan. She was just a bit aloof."

Bob says most of the people who featured with them on TV signed up because they liked the show. "I think people that came on quite fancied coming on. They couldn't plug a book or sell anything."

There was one exception. Vic adds: "Well, Robin Gibb said, 'I'll only go on if I can play my new song'. So we had to go, 'We'll have a pause now and listen to your new record'. It really didn't sit well."

Bob: "Everyone just sat there. And then we went, "that's really nice, Robin. Right, the next round is'. But most people wanted to be there, I reckon."

By Andy Richardson