A biography for Tim Keyhasn’t been written yet.
“It's vital to get something useful under your belt early doors.”
“I really enjoy doing my poems. So that's it; I'm condemned in some way to be a poet.”
“Never meet your heroes' is too much. Sometimes meeting your heroes can be inspirational. Sometimes.”
“The thing about the poetry is that, because of the way it started, it was always something on the side. There's nobody more surprised than me that I make money out of it.”
“I think it's quite a good thing that I actually have a nice audience; you watch as they come in and it has the opposite effect of being offstage: I get more relaxed and more reassured by each seat that is filled with a nice person.”
“I don't know what any of my shows are about.”
“Gervais and Merchant know what they're doing.”
“I don't want to be studied! If I write a poem and smile, that's enough. It gives me the confidence to think other people might as well.”
“I've sung in Russian, I've done an anecdote in Russian and a poem in Russian. My mother can no longer say I'm not using my degree.”
“I have had several positive interactions with A4 paper over the years.”
“I really enjoyed the 1986 World Cup. My dad woke me up and let me watch England vs Poland. Gary Lineker was an absolute predator.”
“I love the radio. Always have.”
“I think Michael McIntyre is great. I find it perplexing when people criticise him. He is standing up in front of 20,000 people and making them laugh. I'd love to be able to do that.”
“I've no idea what the attitude to me is among serious poets.”
“I delivered dartboards to pubs. That wasn't when I knew I wanted to be a poet, but it was when I knew I did not necessarily want to be a white van man.”
“It's possible to like other poetry and still like mine. It's also possible to be not that into poetry and still quite like the poems I do.”
“No, I have no interest in records at all. I don't own any. I haven't played my own record. It's just not really my thing.”
“I do love AA Milne. And I'm not really into poetry. Not including my own - I love my own. But mine's not really poetry.”
“I love Tim Vine.”
“I didn't study other poets and react against them. I kind of found them later and realised I was different. Quite throwaway, I suppose, compared to them.”