I just love the subversion of dialogue in sitcoms, stand-up is monologue and that is entertaining for a lot of people but personally I find it a bit trying, which is a weird thing to say as a stand-up! I love people aping normal conversation and twisting it so it becomes hilarious.

I don’t have the desire to be the best standup in the UK but I do have the desire to be the best at everything else I do in terms of writing and acting.

I respect anyone who‘s honest to themselves and able to bring that into their work in an entertaining fashion.

I try not to make social consciousness a massive part of my music or comedy because I prefer to be an entertainer first and foremost, then do actual grassroots work when I can.

My shows will always be inspired by hip hop culture and my upbringing within it.

I’d always written rhymes but I was scared to share them. They stayed on paper or in my head, until I started going to watch battles and eventually thought to myself, “I’m definitely as good as some of these guys, and maybe even better than them”.

You really come to life on stage but outside – this is a bit of a sad clown clichГ© – there is that element of loneliness you get from travelling and being on the road. Stand-ups can bring a lot of that to a dramatic role and make it work for them.

The future‘s unwritten. It’s what we make of it.

I’m sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it’s a little hard to come by.

I think the sensible thing would be to focus on one thing and be the best you can be at it. There is always that risk of spreading yourself too thin if you try to do too much.

With this kind of camera-phone madness we have got, moments are diluted into self-contained edited experiences.

I’ll just keep going till people get disinterested. It’s what I was born to do and thankfully, people have shown an interest. I never do anything to be famous.

There is no better education than rap battling in terms of performance. It makes you fearless.

Breaking up monotony is key to life and it doesn’t matter whether I’m stacking shelves or writing songs, if I was doing the same thing every day I just couldn’t take it.

Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one

Standup is tough; if you are going through a hard period in your life, it is very hard to get up in front of people and be the happy guy in the room.

In terms of a comedy plan I don’t really have a list of what I want accomplish. I’m just riding the wave! I think I will always come back to stand-up and comedy in all its forms. I just don’t think it will ever be the one sole thing I do.

I never gave up rapping – it gave up on me. There was no industry and no appetite for UK rap back then and I had a daughter to feed. I couldn’t keep doing something full time that didn’t pay the bills.

I think I’ll always be linked to comedy. There is something about it that’s such a beautiful thing. The world of drama sneers at it because people assume that it’s easy but it’s not at all; it’s incredibly difficult.