What made you want to take part in Last One Laughing: Halloween?\

I think it was partly the fact that it was a Halloween series, as I'm a big Halloween fan and my sort of IP is horror and comedy. So it was a perfect mix of what I love!

A lot of your work blends comedy with darker, unexpected twists, did the Halloween setting feel like very familiar territory for you?

Yes, definitely. They've done the Last One Laughing house up brilliantly - it was like my house at Halloween! So it felt like a home from home. It was very much in keeping with my wheelhouse, and I enjoyed being part of a show that they'd tailored to be a sort of scary version of an already great show. When Jimmy told us that as well as laughing, you weren't allowed to scream, I was expecting some jumpy things and they really delivered on that very, very well, there were some great jumps in there.

Did you do anything in particular to prepare before entering?

Well, you don’t know anyone else that's in it before you go in so I was genuinely completely surprised when I entered the room. You've got your Joker, which is something you can think about before, so I did work hard on a sort of spooky themed thing for that. But I didn't have much else. I was just thinking about what possible themes we might discuss in the house, but really, you've just got to sort of wing it. It's so strange because it's unlike anything. It's like doing a show and knowing it's going well, but with none of the reward of any laughs. Which is withering, it feels like the worst feeling in the world. In the end you've got to sort of lean into it, and think even though this is the show, this bit isn't the show, it's watching this, that's the show. So you've got a sort of half an eye on thinking, it is all really funny, but I'm just experiencing this strange vacuum of nothing. You’ve got to rewire your brain when you’re in there.

Was your strategy for the game defence or attack?

I don't know how it's going to come across, but I feel like, for me, I was quite proactive and front footed. I thought that was the way to be rather than look like I was a target, and appear as a bit of a sitting duck waiting for people to come to me. I thought, I'd nip that in the bud and try to just be on the attack a little bit. So I was marching up to people and thinking to myself, “Right, where can I push your buttons?” I was a bit fearful of Jack Dee, because I thought he'd be hard to crack, seeing as his whole IP is that he's grumpy and doesn't laugh. So it was a bit of a challenge thinking about how I was going to get him to laugh, so I had to wrack my brain a bit and he became a bit of a target for me. My strategy really was to just go around and sort of take pot shots at everyone trying to wear them down.

Were you more worried about breaking the rules by laughing or screaming?

Well, I think I was nervous that my downfall would be making myself laugh. But you do it involuntarily and only realise when you’re robbed of it how much you chuckle away at yourself whilst talking to others. So, you've got to really concentrate. To anyone else going in, that would be my advice, you've got to be really on your toes.

Was there anyone from the line-up you were particularly afraid of?

Jack Dee was scary. As the game started, I was frightened that I would be made to laugh by Tom Allen because I find him funny, and he's very quick witted and I thought he might just say something that would get me. Also, the thing I didn't bet on was the guests and the cameos that came into the house, some of them were challenging to say at least. You think you've got the measure everybody in there, and then they’ll bring in this big gun that just gets you. Yeah, that was hard.