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.

Am I allowed to call myself working-class now? Because obviously I'm now very rich.

It seems like a contradiction, but the shy person who is a performer actually does make sense, because in a way, when you're young and shy, making people laugh is a good way to make friends. It's an instant connection.

Well, sanity, I suppose, is getting people to see the world your way.

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.

In 1987, I was in Edinburgh doing my first one-man show. I took part in a kickabout with some fellow comedians and tripped over my trousers and heard this cracking sound in my leg. A couple of days later I went into a coma and was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.

And like the old stereotype, I overcame my shyness by making my friends laugh.