FRESH out of his Edinburgh summer run in the Gilded Balloon Debating Hall, Tom Stade swears he's playing The Crescent in York on Thursday and he's darn right he is.

The rock'n'roll Canadian comedian brings his new five-star Fringe show, I Swear, back to York after his preview performance in the White Rose Rotunda spiegeltent at the Great Yorkshire Fringe on July 26.

Stade casts his eye over over taking a midlife gap year and considers the differences between young and middle-aged use of social-media platforms in a show that is "not for the prudish", wherein misanthropic Tom swears a lot but is also free flowing, warm and cannily observational.

Mischievous, carefree and enlightened, no subject is taboo for Stade, who pledges to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth as he provides an inspiring and incisive antidote to our dark and uncertain times.

Stade, who also takes I Swear to the Wardrobe in Leeds on September 28, offers this warning: "Due to inevitable belly ache from all the laughter, this show is best enjoyed on an empty stomach, taken before, after and during alcohol consumption. The word **** and other harmless profanities will definitely be used in every sentence."

Tickets for Thursday's 7.30pm show in York are on sale at seetickets.com/event/tom-stade or on the door from 7.30pm; for Leeds, go to thewardrobe.co.uk