Richard Herring

I am increasingly excited about the artistic possibilities of the Internet.

I have a lack of practical skills. I can't mend anything or do anything manly; I don't understand how anything works.

I went to the career adviser when I was 16, and tried to explain that I wanted to be a comedian or a writer. That was not on the list.

I don't like people doing jokes about disabled people for no good reason, but I can still understand why they do them.

The Internet is a very exciting way of doing material that's uncensored, and doesn't have to go through TV committees, and people aren't telling you what you can and can't do.

When everyone was listening to pop music I was listening to Monty Python records.

I had a very happy upbringing; I love funny people and love to make them laugh.

I like any European city where you can sit outside, have a beer and watch the world go by.

I like churches and Catholic symbolism, and although the art at the Vatican is overwhelming to see, I appreciated it even as an atheist.

I love ruins and museums but, if I've been working hard, I enjoy a beach holiday.

On one podcast, I attempt to antagonise and lose listeners by commentating on myself playing snooker against myself in my basement. Most people are baffled, confused, even angry about it.

Comedy thrives on immediacy and I got fed up waiting months to find out if a radio sketch show was being commissioned.

I have been making podcasts for over five years. It started as a bit of fun.

Tim Minchin and Daniel Kitson are the two people that when I see them, I think I could never be that funny or that clever.

I like running.

I sleep pretty well - seven or eight hours a night.

I went to a homoeopath once, but she just told me that I was allergic to everything that I liked.

I did WeightWatchers for a while with my then girlfriend. It worked a bit, but it's all about losing weight rather than fat, which isn't always helpful.

Comedians have this happy, charmed life, where they're the centre of their own universe and can do what they want, but when you have kids you get a perspective on how unimportant you are in this world.

In my 20s and 30s, I vociferously wanted to be single. I rarely got into long-term relationships and enjoyed going out with different people.

Coming from a comprehensive school in Somerset, entertainment didn't seem like something that was open to you.

Nobody at school would have expected me to be involved in anything that might have been perceived as cool. I was trying to make people laugh all the time, but my dad was the headmaster and I was quite swotty.

I was into Simon & Garfunkel before my friends got into punk and laughed at me for liking Paul Simon.

When I was a kid I mainly listened to comedy albums.

Laughter is this amazing and healing thing.

There are funny things that come from disability.

Whoever said having children makes a comedian safer and less dark is an idiot. Having a baby has filled my whole life with fear, and totally destroyed all illusion that the world is safe or fair.

I can't be the only one who watches 'Footloose' and hopes that John Lithgow will stop Kevin Bacon ever dancing again.

I certainly don't get any pleasure from watching someone else dancing. That's weird. Why would anyone pay money to watch an adult dance? Just moving around in a rhythmical fashion. It's the worst medium for artistic expression.

I have never been a massive fan of music.

If I was happy for eternity I don't think I could enjoy it.

In the unlikely event that I make it into heaven, I won't be able to enjoy everlasting bliss because part of the pleasure of happiness is its transience.

Happiness is alluring but ungraspable, which is perhaps its ultimate appeal. Who'd really want to have it all the time?

Personally, I find it very hard to absent myself from any situation, due to overwhelming self-consciousness. There's always a voice in my head passing comment and making sure nothing can be enjoyed for what it is.

I've always liked science fiction as a way of commenting on ourselves and it's wrong that it is seen as less valid than other art forms.

It's rare that you discover something by accident that resonates with your sense of humour.

I love Pompeii. I first went when I was 18.

There are a lot of great disabled comedians.

There aren't many opportunities to be a comedian on TV anymore, it's a lot of panel shows. You don't get much stand-up.

Comedy is a downward slicing sword sometimes, looking down and laughing at people.

You have to be quite aware that if you are really looking for something funny it is probably not going to happen.

I have got a lovely life. The people who like me come and see me and I make a nice living. Being on TV isn't so important. You have got to be able to do what you want to do.

By the time I got to uni sketch comedy was much more fashionable than stand-up.

My granddad was very funny and I really loved making people laugh. I used to do puppet shows and I really liked seeing people's reactions.

Sometimes my jokes are meant to be tasteless.

What I question about the afterlife is how many people just accept it and don't question it, because I think living for an eternity would be much worse than dying.

I was religious probably until I was about eight but I always questioned stuff very early on.

I'm investigating where our boundaries lie by sometimes overstepping those boundaries.

It's a weird thing, having a double act - I think Stew puts more energy into his solo stuff than I do, and tries to establish his independence more.

Sometimes with relationships where you work in the same job, it becomes all about the job.