AS LUCK would have it . . .

Canadian actor David Coomber decided he had to face the big world out there and make his way to the UK.

But the Toronto-based star, who has appeared on Broadway, had no job offer to grab onto.

In fact, there was nothing in the pipe line at all.

However, fortune favoured the brave.

For David arrived in London just as producers for a new theatre show were casting around - for a Canadian.

“I can’t believe how it has all worked out,” he says of his arrival in the UK in March.

David is starring in The Comedy About A Bank Robbery.

It’s described as “Ocean’s Eleven meets the Marx Brothers.” And it’s the new comedy from the creators of the quite brilliant The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

The story sees a priceless diamond being entrusted to the city bank, an institution so corrupt that even the security guards are on the take.

Can it be safely stored or will it all go horribly wrong?

The actor points out it’s a different type of show from The Play That Goes Wrong. It has a strong, narrative story line.

“It’s more of a play,” says David. “But you can be sure it has as many gags.”

“It begins in a penitentiary in Canada, and my character helps a prisoner escape and make his way to Minneapolis to steal this famous diamond.”

The first play was a great spoof on how an am-dram production can go entirely wrong.

It was such as success it’s already been heralded as one of the best comedy shows ever to emerge in Britain.

But the producers clearly didn’t wish to create a Mark 2 version however, and set this adventure in a wobbly bank.

“Yes, that’s right,” says the actor. “They wanted something different.

“That’s why is has been set in British Columbia in the Fifties.

“The idea is that the prison featured was one of the easiest to escape from, so that idea really works.”

David adds; “And because it’s a period piece, times were a little more innocent. And there’s a heightened quality to the language of the time and that really works for the comedy.”

David says he was almost born to act.

“I began when I was 10. I became the kid TV producers would call when they were looking for a child.

“Then I went to drama school in Toronto, and made a living out of it. I worked all over, including New York.

“But then I hit 30 and decided I needed a challenge. And because I have dual citizenship, my dad is British, I knew I could work in the UK.

“So I let my lease go on the apartment, and sold off my furniture. And when I arrived I found an agent.”

He adds, smiling; “Now I think the universe has given me this massive gift.

“I’m still pinching myself. I can’t quite believe how it has all happened.”

And playing a Canadian won’t be too much of a stretch?

“No, I just have to heighten my accent a bit,” he says, grinning.

*The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, the Theatre Royal, until Saturday.