If I am old-fashioned, it's not a conscious decision. I just do material that I think is funny.
— Lee Mack
From the age of 14, I remember thinking I wanted to be a comedian. But that was like saying I wanted to be an astronaut. It felt like a million miles away, something I could never do, but would be great to.
Cancun - the locals were fantastic, but it was full of the worst kind of Americans.
I'm terrified of flying and have tried everything from prescription drugs to booze and herbal remedies. The only thing that works is Valium. I don't know why I'm so frightened - I think it's from seeing my mum freak out when I was young.
Your voice determines people's perception probably more than your style or your jokes.
I came to London with a girl. We lived together and split up very quickly. I was on my own in London so started going to comedy clubs.
I've got quite a few friends in the comedy world as you meet a lot of people.
If I was reading a book about a comedian, I wouldn't really care too much about their childhood.
It's much harder to have a BBC One sitcom than to have a tour of stand-up.
Since 'The Office,' everyone has this idea that comedy is only good if it reflects the way people really speak. But that's nonsense - and it's a problem unique to comedy.
Looking back at my school reports, I start off as quite a swotty kid, and then when I get to 12 or 13, my teachers start saying: 'Lee has started to joke around a lot in class.' After that, it's a steady graph of decline, with the jokes increasing and increasing.
My first recollection of performing was shortly after my parents split up, so the logical conclusion to draw is that that affected me.
I'm not opposed to the consumption of alcohol. I'm opposed to my kids watching TV at seven o'clock and being told to bet and drink.
When I was 24, I went back to the academic life and did a degree in film and television at Brunel University.
My great-grandfather was a variety hall comedian called Billy Mack.
The truth is that I don't really understand the concept of having an old-fashioned sense of humour, because to me fashion is about clothes not comedy.
In British sitcoms, you can get five minutes of nothing before the story starts.
I'd been travelling in Romania. It was 1990, just after the revolution and you couldn't buy anything so we'd been eating basic food. We went to McDonald's and, I'm ashamed to say, it was wonderful. I hate McDonald's normally.
It's funny, because when you tell people you've stopped drinking, there's an automatic reaction. People ask, ‘Was it a lifestyle choice or were you waking up in a skip?'
I remember being captivated by Steve Coogan and Eddie Izzard and wanting to do what they did. That generation of comedians was my main influence.
When I'm on tour I just ring up the theatres, book it and go on. You can pretty much go on tour when you want but you can't just make a telly show when you want.
The rules of comedy are, don't complain, it's a brilliant job. You complain, and you're seen as losing touch with reality.
For me, I wanted to write a book about getting into comedy. That's what I wanted to write.
I feel that I'm a stand-up comedian more than anything else, that's my job.
In TV, you get driven to work in a luxury car, and find flowers in your dressing room. Then suddenly you're on tour, drying your hair backstage on plastic curtains.
My only ambition was to get to 50, and not regret not having had a crack at being a comic.
I don't know the statistics, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that a disproportionate number of comics come from broken homes.
I was 38 when 'Not Going Out' began, and I was playing a 34-year-old who had a thing about his landlady.
Comedy was an easy choice for me because I didn't have a career.
We have all said things that are offensive when taken out of context. You don't need to tell the public to be repelled. They will tell you they are repelled.
Not Going Out's jokes were based on the American mentality in terms of how often the jokes appear.
I love buying things I wouldn't normally buy, especially cigars.
Don't get me wrong, I'm under no illusions, I've got a very old-school, mainstream leaning to the way I present my comedy because I actually like jokes and don't just do observational stuff.
I do write a lot of stuff for my tours. I think I just want to give people their money's worth. They've paid to come and see jokes so I try to give them as many as I can.
There are probably about 50 comedians who would come to my 50th birthday party but I'm not sure how many of them would come to my funeral.
I can only write what I would be interested in.
I'm on my own when I say this, but I'm one of the few people that think that 'Everybody Loves Raymond' is better than 'Seinfeld.'
I'm not a comedian who wants to spend far too long on stage.
Loads of blokes think they're funny, but it counts for nothing unless you get up and have a go.
I suppose if your parents die in their 50s and you are approaching 50, you see that you are definitely not in the first half of your life any more.
I have a very clear separation between my life and my work.
Everyone told me that British sitcom was dead. Then I looked at 'Seinfeld' and 'Frasier' and thought, ‘No it's not, it just needs more gags.'
My family were nothing but pleased when I told them I wanted to be a comedian.
