Michael Palin laughs a lot. I supposed you’d expect it. A key man in Monty Python, he has also been responsible for comedy films such as Time Bandits , the brilliant TV series Ripping Yarns , a part in A Fish Called Wanda , the overlooked A Private Function ... I could, but I won’t, go on.

Then there are his travelogues – from railway journeys to crossing the globe from pole to pole and circumnavigating it.

His latest journeys have been into his past: looking back at his amazing life through his diaries.

The books have been best-sellers, now he’s taking them on a new set of travels – across the country as he dips into them in a one-man show.

It’s called The Thirty Years Tour, as the three diaries cover the years 1969 to 1998. He brings it to The Sands Centre, Carlisle tomorrow. He says: “When you get to 72 and you have done so much in your life, I suppose it is a good thing that so many people are so interested in what you have done. People remember what you have done mostly with pleasure and there is quite a lot to talk about and I don’t mind doing that.”

Palin admits that re-reading his entries has provided some surprises.

He has said: “Thanks to the diaries I can recollect things that I would almost certainly have forgotten – did I really think that A Fish Called Wanda was too nastyto be funny? Was I really scared stiff that Around The World In 80 Days could be a complete disaster? Well yes, the diaries prove it.”

They have also reinforced what a gifted, golden, blessed life he’s enjoyed. He’s done so much been everywhere and met everyone who is or was anyone.

How can you pick out a favourite moment? A special period.

“There were moments when we were doing Monty Python. The early writing sessions were extraordinarily liberating,” he says. “It was just great to find that we could write what we wanted and no one bothered. I look back on that with great pleasure and slightly misty-eyed.

“I spoke to Spike Milligan once about The Goons and asked what it was like and he said it was like one good summer.

“I have that feeling. That it was always the summer and it was always hot and coming out with this torrent of material at Terry Jones’ house.

“There were other times, like when I got the chance to spend the night at Macchu Picchu, or sleep in the Sahara desert, or stand at the South Pole... they are all pretty amazing things that not many get to do.”

He reckons that Monty Python would never have been made in the modern Beeb. “We were just allowed to get on with it,” he laughs. “ Python would never have survived if the BBC asked us what we intended to do and how we intended to spend the money.”

There have been times when things haven’t worked out quite so well.

This happened when he didn’t feel a connection to the role or job.

He was cast for a cameo appearance in the movie You’ve Got Mail starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

“They flew me out and I had a week there, but they cut me out of the film. I knew even as I was filming it that it was not me.”

Another rebuff came when he was recording some Roald Dahl stories.

“The Roald Dahl estate didn’t like the way I had done them and quietly shelved it. I’m better with things I have taken on where I can put my own input into it.”

That’s certainly been the case with his travel documentaries.

He has made eight series in all – and claims he said ‘no’ when each one was proposed.

“It was ‘no’ to the first, ‘definitely no’ to the second, then ‘absolutely no’ – I’m just a serial liar,” he laughs.

Almost 30 years on, making the first of them – Around the World in 80 Days – would be a lot more difficult now, if not impossible.

“It would be more difficult now, but only in certain places, such as the Khyber Pass or central Sahara around Mali and Niger,” he agrees. “Russia and eastern Europe has become a bit easier to get to over the years, but things have become more bureaucratic.”

Looking back over his hugely varied life, he can see how one thing led to another, how one project sprang from an interest or desire.

“I still look back and wonder why one thing led to another, but there a sort of logic to it. There are certain themes of interest in my life. For example, when I was young, I loved getting out of the house and going on school field trips which defined something about travelling early on.

“We used to think of the shows as the equivalent of a Commando raid – a small group of six people who go in, grab what we can, speak to a few people,grab some landscapes and other shots and get out.

“We had to work very long hours, but that was the only way. We had to work fast. We started early and ended late.”

Of all the places in the world he has been to, he has only ever visited Carlisle once – for a book signing.

His appearance at The Sands Centre will be his first performance here, though he used to visit the Lakes as a student.

“There was a guy at university who used to take an old slate miner’s cottage at Coniston for a holiday and I remember spending a couple of weeks up there in the wind and rain.

“I’ve been up a few times since and love the area.”

The show involves him telling stories of his life with the help of film and photographs, then there’s a question and answer session.

It changes to suit the evening. In Liverpool he told stories about George Harrison, in Glasgow he spoke about Monty Python and the Holy Grail,  which was filmed in Scotland.

“It’s billed as a one man show but it is a two man show really, you and the audience. It changes depending on how they react to different stories.”

He’s not sure about any local references for Carlisle or Cumbria.

It’s reflective show, recalling his all-action, laughter-filled life. He gently, but firmly points out that at 72, it’s not over yet.

He has finished filming a BBC documentary on the 16th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi which involved travel to Rome, Florence and Naples.

And more seriously he has been asked give the Longford speech on prison reform. He has long been a supporter of the Howard League for Penal Reform.

He is serious for a moment as he says: “I have always been interested in prison reform, I have visited a few and been involved in one or two charities, including Action for Prisoners Families.

“There are an awful lot of people working on prison reform, trying to improve things.

“The problem is we are putting so many people in prison.”

What does he prefer: legend, godfather or national institution?

He guffaws.

“Oh national institution I think. Something that should have caretakers on the door saying ‘No you can’t come in, it’s closed’.

“But I think entertainer is better. Or storyteller.”

Michael Palin, The Thirty Years Tour. The Sands Centre, tomorrow. Tickets £29.50 (plus booking fee) from the sandscentre.co.uk and The Sands Centre box office on 01228 633766.