I'm frightened of interviews.

I've always had live audiences.

I don't have moments of weakness. I'm Rik Mayall.

Insanity is a very high art form. If everyone was insane, I wouldn't be here!

I have always tended toward extremism: I'm Motorhead rather than REO Speedwagon.

Words on the page don't have the same impact as somebody saying the words to you.

Something that has been important to me is never to repeat myself, never to go back.

London audiences are the most challenging around - it's a group of such diverse strangers.

I was in a coma for five days - I was dead longer than Jesus before he was raised from the dead.

I had a very happy childhood, happy teenage years and I was famous by the time I was 22. A charmed life.

I live on the limit, Vyvyan. The limit, because I'm a rider at the gates of dawn and I take no prisoners!

I was brought up to be a good boy and proud of myself so I suppress all the things about me that are bad.

I'd love Shakey Bill to tell me a story - I mean, William Shakespeare, he could squeak a nib couldn't he?

With an audience it's now, there are no editors around. It's just me and the audience and it's what I like best.

With 1,000-seater venues, rather than 5,000-seaters, there are richer opportunities for sucking the audience in.

I would love to do more on the stage; having actual contact with the audience is great. You can give them a good seeing to!

When you're an experienced celeb - which I am - you sometimes just need a bit of space, when you're not 'on'. I'm always on!

I died. Which is fantastic, because I have died already; I have been there and come back. I am completely recovered, thank you.

Other people get moody in their forties and fifties - men get the male menopause. I missed the whole thing. I was just really happy.

On stage you can group 200 people together and scare them or embarrass them or whatever. You can't do that on TV. You have to use the conventions, that's why Kevin (Turvey) works so well.

When I was young, I saw some of my heroes doing it on the telly. We're talking about Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Arthur Lowe, Ian McKellan, Kenneth Williams. These were all guys telling stories to me.

Bring me another bad one, and I shall protect my British people - I brought down Thatcher to protect my people, and I'm bringing down Tony to defend them, and I'll be there for any other dangers that come along.

You perform for a different audience each night. People who don't understand just think that you go out there every night and do the same thing, but you don't - you have to find out who they are and give it to them.

I ought to be groovy and be able to say the enemy is this and the enemy is that... but I've never been very good at... I don't want to have to answer questions I don't know the answer to properly. I have an opinion.

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