Aisling Bea

“Some people get into comedy because they love comedy. Then there are people who have a message and have realised that if they can be funny, maybe people will listen to it. And then there are people like me, who are just addicted to making people laugh.”

“I'll be honest: I've never wanted to do anything other than perform.”

“I know that the harder you work, the more you learn, the more connections you make. You've just got to be prepared to keep putting yourself out there. You have to make it happen.”

“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.”

“In the U.K. and Ireland, crowd-work is a big thing. It shows you how funny someone would be if you met them off-stage. Americans don't care if you're funny off-stage. They want to see the writing; they want to see the work you did.”

“Some people admire the aspirational rock star figures whose biopics make it to TV, the people they watched as kids and made them want to play football for England. For some comics, it is often the Doug Stanhopes and the Joan Rivers.”

“You can use your womb if you want - it's the most beautiful thing to do if you want - but it's not our only reason to be put on this earth.”

“I love the garishness of the '90s - the giant platform shoes, the sparkly butterfly tops, the chokers.”

“For me, people in Ireland who became actors would have to go through the Billy Barry's in Dublin.”

“Please note when you watch a play, you can't pause it and go to the loo or shout into the kitchen for a tea. Learned that the hard way.”

“In America, they like to think, 'Do as many things as you can.' That's what I like about being here. 'You're a polymath! We call you multi-hyphenates!' I like the idea you're allowed work as much as you can.”

“I love BareMinerals pink blushers, Smashbox eyeshadows and eyeliners, and Trish McEvoy mascara.”

“I went to see Billy Connolly do two hours with no break at the Apollo, with Parkinson's disease, during the winter, and it was one of the most important gigs I have seen in my life.”

“I've always hated exercise, but because I've had problems with my back, I now do Pilates, and I walk a lot.”

“I love Alain de Botton and listen to his little 'School of Life' YouTube vids as I do the dishes.”

“People who succeed in my job are people who are not afraid to look silly.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“I am too fat and tall to be a jockey. This is not self-deprecation - I realise that I am neither too fat nor too tall - but I am too fat and too tall to be a jockey.”