THERE are very few acts in the world who can attract some of the biggest names in showbusiness onto stage with them -- and then make them look ridiculous.

Tom Jones, Sting, Dame Judi Dench, Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Jonathon Ross, Mel Brooks and Lennox Lewis are just a few of the guests to appear alongside comedy double act, Trevor and Simon.

Picture the scene. Sting speaking with a broad Geordie accent and pretending to smash everyone in sight over the head with a rubber hammer.

A highly unlikely scenario, but one which delighted young and old on live television.

This is a double act who also managed to get legendary American comic Mel Brooks on stage with them . . . only to be told afterwards "well done lads, that was almost a sketch".

Trevor Neal, one half of the madcap duo, smiles: "He was really good. They have all be good sports but a few did not really understand the humour."

Trevor and Simon Hickson were recruited for the BBC's Saturday morning show Going Live! more than 10 years ago, and very quickly gained cult status, going on to appear on the Live and Kicking show.

But few would realise the pair honed their talents in Bury -- where they return tomorrow night with their new stand-up show.

Trevor said: "Simon comes from Salford and we met at Manchester University. Afterwards we spent some time living in Bury trying to get our act off the ground.

"At university neither of us really belonged on the course because we did not necessarily want to do drama. We realised we quite fancied having a go at stand up comedy. It was at the time that alternative comedy was taking off. Rick Mayall and Ben Elton had just left the drama course at Manchester.

"We started up in student union bars around Manchester and in 1984 we did our first Edinburgh Festival with a show called Devil Fish.

"Between 1984 and 1987 we did the London comedy circuit. Simon was reluctant to leave Bury but we knew if we were to do it properly we would have to go to London. Now there is a national comedy circuit, but it wasn't there at that time. There were very few comedy venues.

"We did shopping centres, night clubs -- anywhere that would have us for a couple of years.

"Then, the producer of the Saturday Going Live morning show came along and said he was looking for two people whose sense of humour would cut across all age groups, and who wrote their own stuff.

"We were never really aware of how the humour was taking off. We would get up early Saturday morning, go into the studio with a handful of people and were never aware of the anyone watching. We became very excited when we went out on tour in 1990 for the first time and the response we got was fantastic.

"The only thing was the pressure of writing a different 25 minute act every week for 30 weeks a year over 10 years. We found writing it in character was a good formula which helped. It gave us our catchphrases which we could work in every week for example.

"The characters were slightly schizophrenic I suppose. On the one hand they behaved in such a way that it looked as though they had been dropping LSD and the other was like old style children's entertainment.

"Anyone who watched what we did on Saturday morning TV would know it was not the sole territory of children. Our humour worked on a level for parents watching it with children. We even had pensioners watching. The reason we enjoyed Saturday morning TV, was because we knew there was an adult audience out there. That was essential because we never saw ourselves as children's entertainers.

"When we do national tours the audience is mainly 18 to 30-year-olds.

Now we are getting back to our roots. We are still childish because our sense of humour will never change. But our live show is not suitable for children."

Trevor lists Jonathan Ross among his favourite guests. He said: "I am a big fan of Jonathan Ross. He is always a good laugh and comes with his own ideas to make the sketches work."

The guest show slot brings back memories of Morecambe and Wise. Trevor adds: "They were our inspiration. We are also fans of Abbot and Costello and Laurel and Hardy."

Life after the Saturday TV show has been busy. Trevor said: "We have done two series for Channel 5 and also appeared on Night Fever. We have also been writing our own projects and submitting ideas. There are quite a few things in the pipeline, including us producing a youth comedy show for Carlton."

The live show currently touring the country is split into two. Trevor said: "In the first half we feature 20 years of Trevor and Simon -- so we are in essence our own warm up.

"In the second half we conjure up all the most evil characters in history. We feature Rasputin, Blue Beard and Evel Kneivel among many others."