When I see a headline ‘Guess who’s going out with who?’ I don’t guess, and I don’t click.
Believe it or not, I work out regularly.
I haven’t had my teeth fixed, I haven’t had a hair transplant. I haven’t had a skin peel, tummy tuck. I’ve done literally nothing.
Oh, let’s face it: I hate everything in others.
I don’t know why other people are concerned about other people’s lives that much.
I don’t do karaoke. I don’t dance, even at weddings. I’m the grumpy one sitting down drinking wine.
Stephen Merchant looks like a Muppet. I mean, he looks like Beaker.
I don’t believe in ghosts or ESP or elves… or God. But I am spiritual in the sense that I get a lump in my throat when I listen to Vaughan Williams.
I think you can make fun of anything except things people can’t help. They can’t help their race or their sex or their age, so you ridicule their pretension or their ego instead. You can ridicule ideas – ideas don’t have feelings. You can ridicule an idea that someone holds without hurting them.
I’ve got re-addicted to normal people, which is the loveliest thing to write about.
Stupidity without malice isn’t horrible; some people can’t help it.
I didn’t know I was poor, growing up, because everyone was in the same boat. I couldn’t have bikes. It never really bothered me, but I could have any book. I loved school; I loved learning. Yeah, I never cared for possessions. I still don’t, really.
I don’t mind what people say about me as long as it’s an opinion or the truth. If someone says, ‘He’s the worst comedian in the world,’ that’s fine. If someone says, ‘His face makes me want to punch the TV,’ that’s fine. But if they say, ‘Oh, and I know for a fact he hunts squirrels,’ I go: no, no, no… that’s a lie.
The second series is always my favourite as a writer/director; you can hit the ground running… so that’s fun.
I’m a scientist at heart, so I know how important the truth is. However inconvenient, however unattractive, however embarrassing, however shocking, the truth is the truth, and wanting it not to be true doesn’t change things.
Fame is an upshot of what I do. If you’re a successful comedian or actor, then you’re a famous one. But it’s not the driving force. It’s a by-product.
I always do a little bit of improv. I did some of ‘The Office,’ a tiny bit in ‘Extras,’ a bit more in ‘Derek.’
I remember asking my mum when I was about 13, ‘Why are my brothers and sister so much older than me?’ And she just said, ‘You were a mistake.’ And I laughed.
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