What made you get into comedy?
It seems like a scripted setup when I reflect on it now. It was as clear as day to me, even though I can only have been eight or nine. I remember being told to “stop being silly”, as all good, tired family members will say at times to children, and it being a dagger to my heart. For surely that was a key part of life: to laugh and be silly. The next day I was watching Morecambe & Wise and lo and behold there were some grownups being silly. When Eric Morecambe looked down the camera and smiled, I felt he was my friend, and I knew that I had to get inside that television and play.
Can you recall your first gig?
It was in my parents’ sitting room. My sister and I had learned some Victoria Wood sketches and I’d learned some Joyce Grenfell monologues. We hid behind the curtains until my parents and a few friends came in, and then burst out in all our glory. Just your standard Friday night for most teenagers …
