“I read a lot. I spend of lot time thinking. It actually looks like I’m doing nothing, but… hanging out with clever and interesting people is a must if you’re writing comedy, like hanging out with a good bass player when you’re a drummer.”

In the world of comedy, there’s this: “If it’s going badly, get off. If it’s going well, get off”. You can’t argue with that either.

I’m a natural born show off. I love performing, and at school we had a really good music scene and an even better drama scene.

When I got to university, I played in bands and did sketch stuff and it was always about coming up with material, which is why I never really practised and have no chops!!

I see the holidays as a chance for kids to learn self-sufficiency.

And to be honest, it’s all about the sound, the noise, the rattle and hum. Who wouldn’t want to make a fantastic noise with drums and cymbals?!

I think it’s really easy to forget that – I’d sooner play something musical than flash, and as I can’t play anything flash.

I try to be musical. Drums can set a mood, create an impression, as much as anything else.

My mum had a cousin that had played when he was younger.

PimpCo is a little business I’ve got, which basically offers drummers the affordable opportunity to make their drums that little bit more bespoke.

Actually, when you’re doing something you love, even when you’re busy and it’s hectic you don’t feel the need to relax.

Louis Pasteur, the great scientist, said “chance favours the prepared mind”, which is a posh way of saying ‘do your homework’, but it’s an excellent piece of advice.

Music is endlessly fascinating.

I never used to take holidays and it would upset ex-wives and girlfriends, but working has me in a better mood than doing nothing.

Thanks to the internet, I buy lots of music, but thanks to my easily distracted nature, I forget about half of it!

When I left uni, I carried on playing and trying out at stand-up.

All about how he developed his career and his creativity as a comedian. Lots of what he talks about is relevant to anyone in the creative arts.

It’s actually quite a good ethos for life: go into the unknown with truth, commitment, and openness and mostly you’ll be okay.

I look at the newspapers, and I cannot believe most of the stories I read. Bernie Madoff, who actually screwed millions of people for billions of dollars.

[You have to be] willing to be changed by the person you’re listening to, where you’re not just waiting for a pause so you can say your thing, but you’re actually letting them have an effect on you if they can.

Migrants come up and no longer seek to evade the Border Patrol, but are actually left at the border by their smugglers.

That somehow distances us from actually taking part fully with the reality we do have, and that creates suffering.

We often lose our tempers not with those who are actually to blame; just with those who love us enough to forgive us our foul moods.

I try to pick songs that I actually like because I realize that I have to live with these songs for a long time, from when I’m working on them in the studio to possibly playing them onstage for the rest of my life.

I learnt to stop fantasising about the perfect job or the perfect relationship because that can actually be an excuse for not living.