Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were threatened at gunpoint during California trip

The pair hired motorcycles in 1992 in the hope of driving from the west coast to the east coast of the US but turned back early on in their journey due to heavy rain.

However, before that they took a wrong turn and ended up in the city of Compton, south of downtown Los Angeles.

Speaking on his new podcast with Jools Holland, Reeves recalled how they had stopped at a red light before being threatened by another driver.

The comic – real name Jim Moir – said: “We went on a doomed motorcycle trip in California in 92. We got there, hired a couple of motorbikes.

“I had been reading a book about the Bloods and the Crips and the gangs in Los Angeles, and we made a mistake.

“We did a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of Compton and a big van turned up next to us at the lights and a fellow pointed a gun at us through the window and said, ‘Get out of here’.

“We said: ‘We are just waiting for the lights to change and we are off’.”

Speaking to Mortimer, he added: “You were very casual about the whole thing. I had read this book and I was terrified.

“We didn’t actually go anywhere because it started raining. It was the floods of 92. We stayed in a house in Laurel Canyon for three weeks with our motorcycles outside.”

Mortimer added: “We were going to cross west to east coast on motorcycles but when we returned them to the hire place I think we had done 19 miles on them.”

Bandleader Holland and comedian Reeves have teamed up for a podcast about their travels, titled Jools And Jim’s Joyride.

They will be joined by celebrity guests including singer Jessie Ware, actress Sally Phillips and Formula One world champion Damon Hill as they discuss their trips by plane, train, bike and boat.

Episode one features Mortimer while actress and singer Jane Horrocks will appear in episode two.

Jools and Jim’s Joyride is available to stream now at https://lnk.to/JoyridePodcast