There's a part of me that still hates everything, and my natural view default setting is still very cynical and dark

I'm sure a psychologist would see something highly significant in how absent-minded I am. I mean I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my neck by muscles, ligaments and my esophagus.

As a comic, you try something and if it works you go with it and grind it to death.

Honestly, sometimes I get really fed up of my subconscious - it's like it's got a mind of its own.

My name is Alexei Yuri Gagarin Siege of Stalingrad Glorious Five Year Plan Sputnik Tractor Moscow Dynamo Back Four Balowski. Me Dad was a bit of a Communist, know what I mean?

I wanted to write about how people's beliefs shift.

It seems easier to make a career out of comedy now than it was in the 1980s.