The veteran performer has been utilising his wit and humour to make audiences laugh for 25 years, and is bringing his new show to Anita's Theatre Thirroul next May.

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When the former food scientist was a child all he wanted was to be like George Michael, but his parents didn't think it was a wise career choice.

"I taught myself the piano and guitar, I was writing lyrics and music when I was 16 and ... but my dad said 'no, where we come from in Italy there's no rock stars, mate, go get a degree'," Avati said.

University came just after the 1990s recession, so choosing the science of food seemed profitable considering "everyone needs to eat".

That path lead Avati to Streets Ice-Cream and the fame of being on the team who developed and launched the Magnum.

But it wasn't enough to fill his heart.

Open mic comedy nights seemed a good way to unleash his creative side which surprisingly turned lucrative.

"I could never be famous through music, so I thought this was my vehicle where I could be a rock star," he said.

"I kept on working [my day job] until it got to the point where I could make serious money ... where some nights I would make what I would in a whole year as a food scientist, playing to 3000 people a night - especially in Canada and America.

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Now the entertainer is celebrating a quarter-of-a-decade in the business and entirely booked out for 2022 - from January to December - and his parents couldn't be prouder.

"Try and stop my dad from talking about me [to other people] ... but he'll never tell me," Avati laughed.

It's his strict upbringing which drove him to channel what he calls "clean" observational humour, absent of profanity or smut, the star admitting that type of comedy is "embarrassing".

"I judge it by if my mum and dad were in the audience, if my grandparents were in the audience would they be offended will what I say?" the performer said.

Avati is inviting young stars (under 16) of the Illawarra - or anywhere on the tour circuit - to send him their best impersonations of his comedy via social media for a chance to have time on stage.

He recently invited a child up at Sydney's Enmore Theatre with delight, and wants to do the same at all the venues on his 2022 tour.

Avati's new show runs about 90 minutes as he honestly recounts life as an ethnic Australian (or a wog kid as he prefers to call it), and now life as a husband and father to a newborn.

Joe Avati, 25 Live: Have Some Respect, Anita's Theatre, Thirroul, May 27. He will also play Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth during May 2022. Tickets through www.joeavati.com

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