Hugh Dennis

“In the old days, you had to wait for people to give you money to go and make something. Now, you can post your own sketches online to get them seen. It means more talented people are coming through.”

“Steve Punt and I have always tried to go so fast that its physically impossible to heckle.”

“I dont run much on roads any more but instead stick to the trails around where I live in West Sussex. Im surrounded by hills and so love doing long loops over the South Downs. Give me mud, puddles, flinty paths and nettles any day.”

“There's something inherently British about siding with the underdog. While comedy needs victims, it doesn't need to treat them in a brutal way - we're kind of lauding them.”

“I know Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin of old, having worked with them for many years on 'Outnumbered.'”

“Everyone's careers go at different paces; you need to forget what other people are doing and concentrate on your own progress.”

“I think youve got to work out what makes you happy. With me, its that I do lots of different things. So Ive got this rather odd career whereby Im not really a stand-up and Im not really an actor and Im not really a writer. But I do them all.”

“Both my comedy partner, Steve Punt - who grew up in Reigate and is the son of a civil servant - and I come from similarly suburban backgrounds, and its really what fuels our comedy.”

“We had an enormous rhubarb patch at home and my mother forced me to eat that stuff without any sugar for most of my childhood.”

“If the radio isnt working I will take it apart and put it back together again. I wont have mended it, but at least Ive had a bit of a poke around and thats usually good enough for me.”

“When you go and meet people in far-flung parts of the world who need help, they're not earnest; they're having a laugh and a joke as they transport the water you're buying for them - not trudging around saying serious things.”

“I was never consciously rebellious but I suppose comedy is a sort of act of rebellion isnt it? Coming from a quite liberal background, it never occurred to me that there was anything to rebel against because you were allowed to say what you wanted to say.”

“One of my travelling bugbears is just people-watching or sticking to a rigid to-do list without venturing further afield.”

“When I had a proper job, I used to go every lunchtime to the Wallace Collection in London to look at the Fragonard pictures of large women on swings. They made me laugh.”

“I would rather have nothing worth stealing than live my life trying to protect things.”

“Not listening to what my wife tells me is my worst habit. I'm always losing my concentration.”

“When I was seven, I went on a school trip to Blankenberge on an overnight ferry and I remember watching the White Cliffs of Dover disappear into the distance. After that trip, our family always spent holidays in Britain and Ive been to nearly every cathedral in Britain.”

“My dad was a vicar and my mum was a primary school teacher, so I was always aware of being in a very supportive family.”

“I really wanted to be a captain of industry. I worked at Unilever as brand manager for Lynx after university. While I don't regret leaving, I wish I still had a bit of power.”

“As a vicar's son, I understood performance. It never seemed odd to me that you'd stand up in front of people wearing weird clothes.”