James Acaster

If people leave the house wanting to see a comedian, they want to see someone speak out for themselves and share true stories from their life.

I'd decided to write about stuff that I would like to hear standup about.

One of the things I figured out was that I was having good gigs when I wore jumpers. It was because I looked more like an outsider, so they expected me to talk about weird stuff rather than normal stuff.

You can play a gig as a band and not know that they hated you; with standup, after every line, you know.

I thought all good art is you doing exactly what you want to see. I didn't realise that's not even what I really like about art. Bands I liked weren't doing just what they want to do: they were finding their common ground with them and me.

I'm great under pressure.

I thought comedians were the funny guy in the common room, not understanding that the flaws in my personality were actually the funny things about me.

Everyone was wearing jeans, so I started wearing slacks. I'd walk on, and people would laugh before I got to the mic because I looked stupid.

Every comic delves into the personal archive when their imagination runs dry.

I grew up with interesting and funny people. We made our own fun. You had to use your imagination.

If a comic laughs at their own jokes, I don't like it. They shouldn't find it funny; they should seriously believe in this stupid thing they're saying.

I really love standup, and I really love writing standup.

When you're talking about a really horrible personal thing that happened to you... and it doesn't get laughs... I feel really exposed and like I've overshared with some strangers.

Ross Noble at the Leicester De Montfort Hall on his Randomist tour - it's the only time I've hurt from laughing at a standup comedian.

I know what I want to talk about, but I don't really know what's funny about a joke until I perform it in front of an audience.

If people are coming to see me because they like what I do on 'Mock the Week,' that's great because they are coming to see me being me.

The Rock was one of my favourite comedy characters growing up, and I still think he is. Mainly because he took himself so seriously by being ridiculous and a buffoon all the time but always took the high status.

I never liked wrestling, but I thought The Rock was brilliant, and that is a statement to how funny he is that I'd even watch a show that I didn't like just to see him on it.

There's not many comedy characters that make me laugh as much as The Rock does; it's nice to have a big muscly guy being funny and stupid.

Until you get left for Mr. Bean, you don't realise how frequently he pops up. There's a shop two streets from my house that sells masks of his face. There's nowhere where I'm going to go that he's not there.

I left school and didn't go to university to be in a band.

I remember being four or five, not understanding how to be funny, so just going around the house and my mum and dad's friends, confusing adults by saying weird things.

The comic I can now never enjoy again is Bill Cosby. He was truly one of the first comedians I got into.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up the Fringe. Spend a year spitting your guts out writing a show, and people forget your name as soon as they walk out.

Every year in Edinburgh, I end up waiting behind the curtain about to go on stage, and I have a moment of thinking, 'No one's told me what to do with this show. I've done exactly what I wanted. This is the biggest arts festival in the world, and all these people have shown up. Aren't I lucky?' It really is amazing.