When I play myself, I want to be a slightly better person. It just agrees. Everything I play about myself is kind of true, but it's amplified. We all edit, don't we? If you're self-aware, you stop yourself - you know how to behave properly.

I happen to have a public profile. Ditto newspaper editors. It's a result of what I do, not an end.

Convoy? Michael, you're hanging around with a man who uses a collective term for a single vehicle.

I always find it easier to portray myself as being unlikeable and idiotic; to actually play a character that is likeable and engages the audience is far more difficult. It's a more subtle kind of challenge.

Big comedy is good, I like things that are big, but good comedy has to be truthful I think and has to reflect some sort of reality.

Going to a grammar school, you mixed with all sorts of different types and I used to listen to how they talked. When I did my imitations, I could sound like someone really rough, or I could sound like a cabinet minister.

I wasn't a naturally confident, extravert, outgoing person.