Aisling Bea

I like the more community element of comedy. And I hate people pitting other people against each other. Audiences are always judging you, but when you're being judged for a competition, it just takes away the joy of the job.

Most of my world is in London, and I feel like this is where I went mad and ended up finding myself.

When you see people getting involved in Comic Relief, especially in tough times or times of recession, that's very positive.

Everyone has material about cats, and everyone has material about family and what they think about their government or childhood.

I grew up in rural Ireland; we only had a few TV channels and had never even heard of sketch shows, but it was completely natural for me to tell jokes and stories.

You change things by focusing your energy on doing your job well.

I had a bad break up at university - you know, when your heart breaks for the very first time, and you think, 'I must leave this island,' as if it had never happened to anyone before. I said 'OK, I'll go to England,' and it was the best decision I ever made.

An hour show panics me a lot less than five minutes at the O2. How do you put yourself across and make sure people have a good time in five minutes?

Repealing the Eighth Amendment is about women who don't want to be pregnant. It's not about a certain type of woman, a certain age of woman - we all known sisters and mothers who have chosen to go on with a pregnancy and those who haven't.

I remember, when I got my first period, I was almost afraid to tell me mother, who's quite an open, loving person. But I felt really weird; the chat just wasn't there.

Up to the age of five, I wanted to be a builder. My neighbour, a builder called Paddy White, would come in for a cup of tea with my mother. I'd assemble all the pillows together at interesting angles, thinking he would spot my talent at a raw young age and take me on as an apprentice.

Getting a laugh was what I'd been doing with my family and at school since the age of three.