6.         What do your parents/children (delete as applicable) think of your job?

My son’s entire concept of me and my wife’s job (Anna Crilly) is based on two YouTube clips of the kids sketch show Sorry I’ve Got No Head. In one, my wife is farting every time she says the word “Blueberry” and in the other I am tormenting James Bachman’s character in a terrible “Swiss” accent.  Kids being kids, he’s pretty fine with this as an explanation.

7.       What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

Student gigs. No. point.  If you are 18 you don’t know what it is you find funny, at least not in public. Students are weirdly conservative - they are all waiting for the person beside them to laugh first.  It’s agony, and nobody wins.

8.       I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?

I really don’t know what it is that people like of me, if indeed they do. That’s not me being self effacing. It’s an issue for me - in fact, I have learnt to stop worrying about it because it can distort the work if you try give folk a version of yourself you think they want.  But thanks.

9.       How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?

Hey kids. You like stability? Stay away from comedy…. My income varies so much it would make you sick.

10.       How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?

Luck is lovely, but you can’t control an ounce of it. If you get lucky once, you *can* start to expect it again, which is a mistake. Instead work on getting better, try to at least mask the worst aspects of your terrible personality and have an ice-cream now and again.

11.   Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into a third category?

I was a self harmer - my god I was. The reason I stopped for nine years or so was because of the self flagellation.  Something about having a kid and a dog means it's not about me anymore, so nowadays, I’m more inclined to golf.

12.   Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?

Currently I would say amateur machinist John Mills from the YouTube channel Double boost. I can’t tell you for why, but watching him turn metal parts on the lathe, is I think something like the meaning of life. 

13.   Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (Please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).

Immaculate. You’d be insane not to. 

Picture: William Andrews