Steve Coogan

“There's something quite joyful about doing comedy which doesn't really need much analysis. I'm not elitist. I like to do crowd-pleasing stuff which is a bit smart, but is just about belly laughs.”

“I don't like new bands. I don't want to be one of those pathetic old men in their forties who knows exactly what 18-year-olds are into.”

“I wasn't a naturally confident, extravert, outgoing person.”

“When you tour you become more intimate with your audience. It's like I need reassurance that they like me or at least find me relevant. And that I can still do it.”

“When I see friends from school I think they've all grown old and I've stayed the same.”

“I've always been drawn to discomfort and that limbo of unease you get between comedy and tragedy.”

“When I was a student I was very, very ambitious, completely immersed in my comedy career. I never had that period of reckless hedonism that you should get out of your system in your youth.”

“I always find it easier to portray myself as being unlikeable and idiotic; to actually play a character that is likeable and engages the audience is far more difficult. It's a more subtle kind of challenge.”

“Actually, bizarrely, in America, I get more appreciation from the odd, unusual stuff I've done, almost because I'm not, if you like, famous in America as I am in England.”

“Big comedy is good, I like things that are big, but good comedy has to be truthful I think and has to reflect some sort of reality.”

“My father worked for IBM. My mother raised us kids. There were six of us, and a couple of extra foster kids at any given time.”

“There is a strong ethical dimension to the best comedy. Not only does it avoid reinforcing prejudices, it actively challenges them.”

“Going to a grammar school, you mixed with all sorts of different types and I used to listen to how they talked. When I did my imitations, I could sound like someone really rough, or I could sound like a cabinet minister.”

“If you start to disrespect the character you're playing, or play it too much for laughs, that can work for a sketch, it will sell some gags, but it's all technique. It's like watching a juggler - you can be impressed by it, but it's not going to touch you in any way.”

“People regurgitate the same old cliches and it becomes like a photocopy of a photocopy of something that's vaguely interesting.”