Dara O'Briain

(on being ambitious) Dara: There is a tendency to regard ambition in comedy as being some sort of sin, that it should be about something else. I am ambitious and I don't think that's a bad thing

(on going out to meet people) Dara: Not being able to cook is very handy for this, because it means I have an excuse to eat out or go to the pub. If I'm on my own, I people-watch — that's always great for ideas and gags. Or I find an Irish pub. I have developed the skill of being able to find an Irish pub in any city in the world. And inside that pub will be somebody who knows somebody who knows my best mate.

(on what career he thought he would have after studying Maths at University) Dara: I never even considered that. I just loved my numbers, sad as that makes me sound. But the trouble with maths at university level is that it was also the favourite subject of some insanely, savantly clever people, which doesn't exactly make for a fun social life. And then there was the fact that in our class there were just two people: me and Gavin, nobody else, for four years.