If you’ve ever contemplated becoming a comedian, you’ll need more than the ability to make people laugh and a memory capable of stockpiling several hundred jokes.

A microphone’s a must, too.

You’ll also need to be happy in your own company. Being in your own company and self-employed at the same time can cause a lot of confusion with the Tax Man.

I spend hours on my own, driving to and from gigs. I’m alone when I write new material – well there’d be no point in me writing old material.

I’m alone when I haunt cafes, observing people and ear-wigging their conversations in the hope that an odd turn of phrase might inspire my creative comedy juices.

Then, when I arrive at a gig, I’m alone when I pace around my dressing room, going over the act in my head, hoping the act won’t go over the heads of the audience.

My profession demands that I spend time alone – but I’m rarely lonely.

I wouldn’t call myself ‘Gregarious’. Mainly because ‘Gregarious’ Evans sounds ridiculous. But… when I put my work aside, I enjoy the company of family, friends and colleagues.

Of course, I’ve had times in my life when I felt lonely, just as the whole world has. Which is why songwriters and performers have always tapped into this truth.

“Only The Lonely”; “On My Own”; “All By Myself”; “ I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”; “Downtown”; “Lonely Boy”; “Alone Again (Naturally)”….just a handful of classic songs about loneliness.

And another is Harry Nilsson’s “One Is The Loneliest Number”

One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do. Two can be as bad as one. It’s the loneliest number since the number one.

The combination of simple lyrics sung in a minor key give it a poignancy that we can all relate to.

Oh dear. I seem to have got something in my eye. Where’s my hankie?

I read recently that despite social media which allows us to communicate with each other 24 hours a day via all the shiny electronic gadgets available,  modern life is making us lonelier.

I’ve always thought ‘social isolation’ referred to those amongst us who, because of a disability or economic reasons, were unable to socialise as most people do.

But the rise of social technology has meant that many of the generation who sit at their keyboards communicating with dozens of ‘friends’ scattered around the world, are unable to make friends in the real world.

Some of these people wouldn’t consider themselves to be lonely in the accepted sense, but 48% of us think we are getting lonelier in general.

So come on, people! Get out from behind those keyboards, put down those tablets and iPhones and make new friends. Join a society. Volunteer for charity work. Take a course in a subject you’ve always wanted to try: flower-arranging or underwater yoga.

Best of all, if you want to be surrounded by bright, intelligent people, become a member of the audience at a Phil Evans comedy night!