The character comedian and TV star on meeting angry fans, his first UK tour as megalomaniac magician Mr Swallow and taking inspiration from Torvill and Dean
Who did you look up to when you were starting out?
French and Saunders were probably the most inspirational. I used to watch a lot of older stuff too like Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em and Fawlty Towers. But it wasn’t just comedy. I found Torvill and Dean hugely inspiring purely in terms of sheer dedication to their craft. I feel similarly about Derren Brown – people who just completely own their areas.
Why did you decide to go into comedy?
I’m not sure it was ever a decision, in that there was never any guarantee it would all work out – and in many ways that’s still true today. I used to perform magic a lot when I was younger and so I knew I liked entertaining people and it was something I wanted to do for a living. But it wasn’t until I started doing a PhD in seismology that I started thinking seriously about doing comedy for a living. I wouldn’t advise anyone else to take this route though, it’s a little longwinded.
