I'm sure some cynical people would point to that as the main reason for doing it for a lot of people.

I pay a bit more than lip-service to health: I don't eat chips or pre-prepared food, and it might be a comedy sacrilege to admit I do like vegetables, fruit and salad and stuff.

My mum taught me to knit when I was a child, and I turn to it, for some weird reason, when I'm feeling depressed.

Regular panelists on shows can be terrifying. They own that space, and many guest comics suspect they are favoured in the edit, while their own hilarious jokes end up being ejected into the ether.

No one I know is actually so rude as to tell me I've become duller since having children. But I'm sure they think it.

I've seen a lot of women give up after they've had three or four bad gigs in a row. It's very difficult to learn not to take nasty heckles personally.

One thing Christians do have in common is that they can't help coming across as smug.