6. What do your kids think of your job?

My kids Louis (20) and Maddie (17) are cool with it. Occasionally, I will do a music video with an artist  I've never heard of and it turns out to be my daughter's favourite band. 

When I landed a role in Harry Potter my kids were all over the set from day one. HP was very much the full family experience. 

I'm currently collaborating with my son Louis on an animation project. He is a great cartoonist.

7. What is the worst thing about being a comedian?

If you  asked any comic this question I think the answer would be ‘Travel’ Nothing promotes stress more than imagining yourself at your destination whilst simultaneously stuck in traffic 180 miles away. I'd get the train but thats all tits up as well.

I used to enjoy visiting places with my job but as a comic you never truly get to appreciate where you are because you have to do a show in a couple of hours. Sometimes you don't even see the place in daylight.

The worst aspect of travel in the UK are those depressing road closures that seem to only affect comics and lorry drivers.

8. I think  you are good at what you do. What do you think of you?

I wouldn't be honest if I said I don't suffer from almost perpetual doubt. However, since my accident I now find I dont give a fuck. I'm no longer concerned about industry issues that took up my time before. I tend to have more clarity of thought than before but that might be the medical marijuana talking. Before the accident I would never dared to have entertained the notion of returning to Edinburgh. I thought that is the preserve of younger comedians with hunger and ability but as my recovery progressed something kept nagging away to create something out of the ashes. I certainly had nothing better to do.

9. How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?

Given my sitaution I can safely say over the last year I have earned bugger all apart from a few royalties.  My priority was surviving and I didn't think much about work for the first year of recovery.

Not only did I earn next to nothing I also had giant medical bills. The initial invoice for 18 days room and board in ICU was $652,000. It really helped the comics putting on a benefit on my behalf otherwise I would have ended up on Cant Pay We’ll Take it Away. 

I had to face the possibility of never working working again. I had no idea if would ever pick up my double bass again - an instrument I used for years in my shows. Acting was out of the question too in case they want me to ride a penny farthing or something. After a year a couple of auditions trickled in. One casting breakdown was ’Looking for a tall, thin world weary character. Must look believably half dead’ I thought this is perfect for me in my condition. Didn’t even get a call back.

10. How important is luck in terms of career success?

Luck is one thing but you need to be in the right place at the right time and keep slinging mud at the fan until something sticks. 

Conversely, I've probably had more bad luck than good. 

I remember having a decent Royal Variety Show performance circa mid-nineties and thinking this could be the career boost I need.  

The gig was on a Friday and the following Monday Charles and Diana anounced their seperation. This meant there was zero press coverage on the show and my participation went largely unnoticed.

On another occasion a TV show I was involved in called Sketch Show was about to be released for broadcast but on the same day 9/11 happened and the release of the show was put on hold. It didn't help that our opening sketch was set on a plane suffering from turbulence.

11. Alan Davies says that comedians fall into two catergories- golfers and self harmers. The former just gets on with it and the latter are tortured artists. Which are you?

Alan should get his analogies in order. Donald Trump plays golf and he is the most unstable character I can think of.

Also, I live in LA and its too hot to play golf.

Im leaning towards the self-harm model as it sounds like a better way of keeping the creative juices flowing. 

12. Who is your favourite person at the moment?

I would like to nominate The Duke of Windsor. I watched him on The Crown and became most absorbed by his lifestyle. He wasn't particularly likeable but he had an interesting set of circumstances.  He wore nice suits with cross patterns too. I also live abroad - in a kind of comedy exile but I've never given away secrets to the Nazis.

13. Do you keep your drawers tidy?

I'm afraid I put stuff in drawers until they are stuffed full with things like dog poo bags, receipts, foriegn coins and cotton reels. I like outward appearences to look neat and tidy and not betray the clutter within. Sometimes however,  as with a creative project you have to pull everything out of the drawer, chuck it on the floor and start again.

Jim Tavare: From Deadpan To Bedpan is at the Laughing Horse at the Counting House from August 2 - 26. Details here.