It was a bizarre existence I led in my early twenties - that cliche of the comedian who goes out and entertains a roomful of people and then goes home to a lonely bedsit was unbelievably poignant for me because that was exactly what I was doing. I had periods of real loneliness.

I'll never forget my first experience of swede. It was at school and I thought I was getting mashed potato. I've never got over it.

When I was nine I spent a lot of my time reading books about the history of comedy, or listening to the Goons or Hancock, humour from previous generations.

All disc jockeys are without talent. Noel Edmonds - I can't stand Noel Edmonds.

I looked at longevity in show business when I was about 13, and the people who seemed to have longevity were the ones who'd spent quite a bit of time learning about what they were doing before they made it.

Have you ever had sex with a horse?

In fact, I don't watch a lot of contemporary comedy for fear of being influenced by it.