There are few truly incontrovertible facts in this life but one of them is that Michael McIntyre cannot be stopped. Like Peter Kay a few years earlier, McIntyre has swept all before him and the appetite for tickets to see him perform remains at fever pitch.

Which is a little odd when you consider that any comedian at the top of his (or her) game is on telly pretty much non-stop these days. McIntyre has starred numerous times in BBC stand-up flagship Live at the Apollo and has also fronted Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, which is basically Live at the Apollo with more Michael McIntyre (and less Apollo).

Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You, 8 out of 10 Cats and Would I Lie To You? are among the top-rated TV comedy panel shows and McIntyre has graced all of them, often more than once. He's been Top Gear's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and presented a section of this year's Comic Relief show with Claudia Winkleman.

On top of this, the 35-year-old has sold millions of DVDs. 2009's 'Hello Wembley'! disc broke long-standing sales records just a year after his first release, 'Live & Laughing', became the fastest selling debut stand-up DVD of all time. Stick that in your brew and drink it, Peter Kay.

But still we want more. Thankfully, the McIntyre machine plans well ahead and tickets for a 2012 UK and Ireland arena tour (that doesn't begin until August next year) will be available here from 9AM on Thursday 31st March [I predict a (ticket) riot! - Ed].

The frankly massive tour kicks off with EIGHT consecutive dates at the Motorpoint Cardiff Arena from Wednesday 22nd August 2012. There are then six dates at Nottingham's Capital FM Arena from Monday 3rd September, six more at the NIA, Birmingham and another half-dozen at London's O2. October sees four dates in Sheffield, two in Belfast and then a run of six at Manchester's MEN Arena.

Glasgow, Newcastle, Dublin and Liverpool all see two to four gigs before the tour closes with six more London dates, this time at Wembley Arena from Wednesday 28th November to Monday 3rd December.

I need a lie-down. And so will you if you're going to compete with the almighty stampede that will befall the nation's communication infrastructure when tickets go on sale.

Big. Bigger than big. Massive. MASSIVE. You'll be able to see this tour from space. You get the picture. And if you don't get a ticket well then there's always the DVD.