Did you know that 136 inhabited islands make up the British Isles?

Did you know that there are only 22 countries that we have not invaded in the course of our history?

Did you know that there were 22 different nationalities on Nelson’s flagship Victory?

No, neither did Mark Thomas, but the left-wing campaigner and comedian is including all this information and more in his his new show at The Old Fire Station, Carlisle tomorrow.

In 50 Things About Us, he combines his trademark mix of storytelling, stand-up, mischief and well-researched material.

He picks through the myths, facts and figures of our nation to ask who do we think we are?

He says: “I just decided that whether you are pro-Brexit or anti-Brexit or whether you have conflicted views about it like me, this vote did not come out of nowhere. I wanted to find out where did it come from? Who are we? Who do we think we are and how did we get to this point?

He says we won’t understand ourselves until we realise exactly who we are.

He insists there are also lots of reasons to be cheerful about being British, even though we seem to have an attitude that we are better than foreigners while at the same time, being victims of their decisions.

“I celebrate a lot of stuff. Despite everything, being British means being welcoming.

“It has always been about welcoming people, There is part of us that is very generous and we will help each other.

“There were 22 different nationalities on board Nelson’s flagship Victory. This is not celebrated or remembered.”

The show is subtitled ‘Work In Progress’ because he hasn’t quite finished it. He admits it is unlikely to be finished. He will always have something new to say about the day’s news.