Greg Davies

My dad, who had spent his life as a lecturer, said, 'That's all very well, but you need to earn a living, so why don't you teach?' I did, and 13 years later, I woke up. ”

Anything my dad says about what I say about him, I can remind him of ten examples where he publicly humiliated me. We're really close. The culture of mickey-taking is well established in my family. ”

Myself and some kids on our estate became obsessed with the creation of the ultimate go-kart. This ambition culminated in the creation of a six-man super-cart, which was essentially a plank of wood with four wheels, and a failed attempt to jump a tributary of the River Severn powered only by Rex, our dog. ”

Some of my friends in this business have received awful online abuse, but I've so far pretty much avoided it - and I've largely avoided meeting hideous people in the street. Most people tend to be charming. ”

Humour is learned behaviour, and I know exactly why I learned to be funny. I did it from a very early age. My dad was a hilarious man, and the way we interacted was being silly together. It was a way to hold his attention. ”

One day I woke up, had an early mid-life crisis, and decided it all had to change. I went and did Logan Murray's comedy course for 11 weeks and then started sneakily doing open-spot gigs, and that was it. ”

When you're trying to enter something as intimidating as comedy, starting out with a support network of likeminded people is a powerful thing. It was natural we'd end up working together because we went through those first petrifying moments together. We created gigs for each other, slapped each other on the back, and protected each other. ”

I got to the stage where I physically couldn't carry on unless I gave comedy a go: it was necessity. ”

I try and make myself or consenting people I am very close to the victims of my comedy. I don't enjoy bullying masquerading as comedy. ”

Comedy brings out this rage in people: they get furious when they don't like something. I have some lovely hardcore fans. ”