The king of one-liners on his unlikely comedy hero, preshow prayers and the best heckle he’s ever got
How did you get into comedy?
I spotted an advert in the Stage newspaper advertising a new act competition at the Comedy Cafe in London. Twelve acts did five minutes each and the audience voted for the winner. I began going to that every Wednesday.
Who did you look up to when you were starting out?
I was inspired by all the acts who were doing full 20-minute spots when I was just doing unpaid five-minute open spots. The list is almost too many to name. It was all the acts working on the circuit at that time. Boothby Graffoe, Kevin Day, Lee Evans, Alan Davies, Eddie Izzard, John Moloney, Harry Hill, Jeff Green and loads more. The entire comedy circuit inspired me.
