6. What do your parents/children (delete as applicable) think of your job?

I think my parents are just happy that I didn't join a cult.

7. What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

The hardest thing to get over is to hone your skills and learn you have to fail in front of people. Not in rehearsals like with other forms of performance. It's daunting but once you have that first big, foul smelling, mustard gas bomb of a set and pick yourself up from it, it gets easier.

8. I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?

I started comedy in 2017 and am 31 years old so I'm a late bloomer and relatively new. It's easy to think then that I've risen very fast in a short space of time, however the truth is I have been in performance of some sort for 10 years. I'm also a story teller so the more years on me the more stories I've got, so starting out with the stage presence already honed and with a backlog of material I'd set myself up well.

As a performer I think I just look to dominate the room with a warm charisma and have everyone feel like they are with me through the set. I hope that people feel as if they've been on a journey with me where they were never sure of the destination. 

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

I do not earn a lot, I still work jobs at Borough Market which I love. I'd like to earn enough that having a comma in my bank balance isn't an exciting thing. That's anything from estate agent to cartel leader money, I'm happy with that.

10. How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?

I'm a firm believer of making your own luck. I had a lucky break when I got my agent, however I had to have put myself in a position where I was on a platform that industry would take notice. Of course there are Cinderella stories in this industry but the reality is that it's a succession of small but significant breaks that make a career.

11. Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into a third category?

I used to be the self-harmer, always getting frustrated at knock-backs, I didn't take rejection well... I once burnt a sitcom script in my back garden when I got a rejection letter from BBC Writers Room..... then I discovered therapy and antidepressants and managed to right the ship mentally. I just get on with it now as there’s no use getting wound up. The three rules of the creative industries are: Nothing's fair, don't be shit & don't be late. If something doesn't go my way it was probably one of those things. Just press on and keep aspiring to write good work.

12. Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?

I'm now just trying to find reasons not to say Sir David Attenborough so I think I just have to go with him. I am a nature fanatic and can recite facts about different animals, plants and geography at a worrying level. His documentaries started my love of nature and also got me through university as I'd watch them every night to get to sleep. As a human he just shows us all what we should be, passionate, humorous, remaining in touch with the world at his age. The man is a living legend.

13. Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).

No. I'd like to. I aspire to be a man that does but... I live in a shared flat in London and share a room with my girlfriend and I'm too nice... I just put stuff where I can. As I write this there is a holdall full of my socks and t-shirts just near the bed yet my girlfriend has a prop draw for her comedy shows.

Richard Stott: Right Hand Man is at The Gilded Balloon from July 31 - August 26 at 12.45pm. Tickets and details here. 

Picture Steve Ullathorne

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