Rhod Gilbert

“I think stand-up now will burn out. I think probably sketch or something will come back into fashion. I think other forms of comedy will replace stand-up. There's so many more people out touring and so many more DVDs, I just don't think this is sustainable at all.”

“If you look at the sales for anyone's DVDs - comedy certainly - they will be massive at Christmas and pretty much on Boxing Day be in a bargain bin! The sales trickle in the rest of the year, but it's a real trickle.”

“I truly believe we don't appreciate the value teachers have in our society, instead they're put-upon, down-trodden and hammered from every angle.”

“I've got a routine: eat, shower, soundcheck, iron shirt. Then there's a two-hour rollercoaster onstage, followed by a crash when I collapse afterwards.”

“I certainly think that live comedy on radio is my favourite thing.”

“I go to my fair share of festivals and gigs and I know that there are great musical talents out there.”

“The worst thing you can do is compare arenas and compare rooms. Every room is different, in its size, its shape, the acoustics.”

“Walking out in front of 5,000 people is a big old thing. I have to be ready, and I have to give it absolutely everything.”

“I'd even refuse to go to school when I was at primary age, and if you look at any class photo with me in it I'm always the kid with his hand in front of his face, or turning away from the camera.”

“I can kind of play the piano and I've got a drum kit which I've been meaning to learn. And I am going to teach myself when I get time.”

“And now, if I catch anyone staring at me, I figure they either recognise me or are trying to work out if I'm that bloke off the telly, whereas previously it just made me feel self-conscious.”

“Broadly, I start it off as a two-and-a-half-hour show, and I try to get it down to an hour 45. I will drop some bits in and some bits out. I will drop a whole 15 minute section for a few weeks or a few months, and then put some of it back in, or all of it back in and drop something else out.”

“What I found was, the higher profile you get, the more people are just coming to see you. On the last tour, I found that the support act didn't quite get the sort of reaction you'd hope they get. People wander in and out, standing in the bar... not really being that interested.”

“My last job was in qualitative research, and I loved it.”

“It's what I've always done since day one though, immediately turn down new offers of work by being dramatic and protesting that I've got too much on already.”

“I suffered from social anxiety as a kid - the dread of homework and being back at school was awful.”