Quotes from Russell Howard

Like most comedians, I have crippling low self-esteem, so I always think that what I've just done is rubbish.

I have a friend called James who is in his 40s and he's still not allowed to swear in front of his mum. I find it strange that you can't be yourself and be open with the one person who brought you into this world.

I worked in a watercress bed, picking weeds out of watercress when I was at school. It was awful.

Question Time' is a nice forum for reasoned political debate. There's no point having me on there trying to crack jokes.

Portland is incredible. It's the most amazing place.

I have 40 cousins.

Audiences around the world are all pretty similar. People just rock up and want to have a laugh, although Americans whoop more than English crowds.

I'll sit down for 'Stranger Things' or 'The Handmaid's Tale' - or a really good documentary.

These are strange times. I'm 37 and this is the weirdest the world's ever felt. There's a right-wing, nationalistic anger sweeping through Europe and America.

The last thing you want to do is preach to the converted. What you want to do is talk about issues from a non-political point of view, from a human point of view.

I always found it strange, when I went round to other people's houses for tea and that, how strict their parents were.

Sometimes improv doesn't work on TV because the audience had heard the thing that was shouted and they're very much alive, the audience in the room - they're alive in that moment. Whereas the audience sat at home on the sofa, it feels like it's part of a party that they haven't been invited to.

I don't really have a political agenda, I just like things to be fair - I get angered by pomposity and privilege.

I never really wanted to be on telly.

Have you ever thought about letting Cheesus into your Life?

There's a lot of brilliant comics who are amazing, but you can see them doing the same 20 minutes that they were doing five years ago, verbatim. I think that doesn't lend itself to progressing.

If the front-page news is a comedian doing a joke that people think is naughty, that proves there's no real news that day, does it not?

The Edinburgh Fringe is a tough beast and you do whatever you can to get through it. But it's really the worst place to see comedians; everyone is so tense and nervous because it feels like Ofsted inspectors are out there.

If you're doing 70 gigs in a tour, there's a lot of responsibility. People need a big night out, and you're providing it.

I just couldn't do a comedy show about 'The History Of Dinosaurs;' I'd get bored too easily.

This bloke was so pissed, he thought his vomit had come to life!

What do you know when you're 19? I was just stomping around doing gigs.

Genuinely, the first gig I did when I was 18, it felt like the world shifted. I realised that I had stumbled upon a mechanism through which you could view life.

I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.