Happily, comedians are no strangers to making fools of themselves and several have agreed to strip off to promote The Secret Policeman’s Ball in aid of Amnesty International at London’s Royal Albert Hall next month.

Bo Selecta’s Leigh Francis, Phoenix Nights star Paddy McGuinness and stand-up Richard Herring are among those who have bared nearly all, with an Amnesty logo on the underpants instead of Armani.

“I am not sure how this really helps the cause but it’s a good one and I am happy to oblige,” says the hirsute Herring, 41, whose female fans can see what good shape he’s in after recently losing nearly three stone.

“As I said to the photographer, ‘If me stripping down to my underwear releases just one political prisoner then it’s all been worth it’.”

Herring adds: “I don’t really mind showing off my body, though I do so out of a sense of how ridiculous it is rather than any kind of vanity. But I have appeared completely naked on stage and on TV before.”

The Amnesty concert on October 4 will star Graham Norton, Frank Skinner and Alan Carr.