I'm British Comedian, Simon Amstell. AMA!

Did you miss Bill Bailey when he left buzzcocks?

Very much so. In fact Phil and I did a small dance to express our grief.

You once said you want a partner that is like you, but much better. Which means that are looking for somebody that looks for someone like himself, but much worse.

Any advice for the people of whom that statement speaks to?

Raise your self esteem immediately! You are beautiful, you are enough, you will be dead soon.

I saw your fringe show and was quite upset when at the end you asked the audience if they wanted to ask you anything and all they did was ask questions about Donny Tourette. Does it anger you that people don't appreciate that you have moved on in your career or does it give you pride that moments like that on Buzzcocks still give people such joy?

Both?

Is there any scope for a third series of Grandma's House? Or even a one-off special?

I guess something like that could be possible but we ended it when I felt like I had healed my childhood.

How do you encourage yourself when you're nervous or afraid - and what makes you feel such things?

I try to remember that the fear of doing something is not as painful as the regret of never having done anything.

Can you believe how popular never mind the buzzcocks was due to your presenting? Like, did you ever realise how good you were (as others will attest to). I think Preston will go down as one of the best ever moments on television.

Thank you. We tried to make it as funny and eventful as possible but I think my insecurity in that role led to me working very hard to make it as good as it was.

Simon, hearing you speak about your journey through ayahuasca and general self enlightenment was pretty helpful to me at a point in London last year. I mean I haven't fallen in love with any trees yet but still.

Anyway - how is life for you now on a daily basis? Are you having an existential crisis more or less often than ten years ago.

Apologies if this is phrased weirdly, I've had four pints.

Ha ha. Much less often but as well as the profound effects of ayahuasca I also had to figure out some kind of daily spiritual practice, which for me seems to be jumping around in my living room when I wake up every morning listening to music on wireless headphones.

Are there any comedians that you like?

Yes. My favourite at the moment is John Mulaney who I did a show with a few years ago in Texas. I recently watched a lot of his recent stuff on YouTube and fell deeply in love with him.

I love Carnage, but it's hard to tell people about it in the U.S., since there is nowhere for them to see it. Any future distribution plans for it over here? Somewhat related: What are your favorite vegan restaurants in NYC?

We are hoping to arrange a screening of Carnage, possibly in Brooklyn whilst I’m at Theatre80 in June but this is not in any way confirmed. My favourite restaurant was Angelica’s Kitchen but I hear it isn’t there anymore so maybe The Caravan of Dreams?

Hi Simon, I discovered your comedy through your hilarious appearance on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I'm sure I'm not the only person for whom that's true. While I'm planning to go to one of your NYC shows, have you considered touring across the US?

https://www.npr.org/2012/07/28/157506572/panel-round-two

It would be easier for me if you could come to New York but let me talk to the people in charge.

Was there a recording of your third and fourth stand ups? I loved your first two but I missed those! (May be able to see What is this in August tho, fingers crossed!)

My plan is to combine the last two shows into some kind of brilliant recording.

What's your favourite film?

It feels a bit too soon to say but ‘Call Me By Your Name’ definitely went straight into my top 5.

At what point did you get comfortable being so emotionally open on stage, and how did you decide that was what you wanted to talk about?

Magic mushrooms helped. Also if you say the thing that you are most ashamed of out loud it stops being scary.

What do you think happens after death?

I think the question that you would have to answer first would be, who is this experience happening to? It feels likely that after death everything that we identify as the self isn’t there anymore. So I don’t know?

Do you keep a journal?

No, but I do the ‘morning pages’ as suggested in the book ‘The Artists Way’.

Did you ever think that your movie carnage would have such a massive impact?

The night after Carnage was broadcast I was at a dinner party with 2 people who were telling me they loved every moment of it and they were eating the legs of a dead chicken. So I feel some of the impact is still to come.

What do u even do with folk that watch Carnage then somehow conclude it's pro-meat?

Eat them?

My boyfriend will go gay for you and stephen fry. Should I be worried?

No, there is nothing to worry about. But maybe these binary descriptions are holding us back. Everyone is queer. You are queer. I am queer. Your boyfriend is queer. Good luck with everything.

What is the film or book which has had the greatest effect on you / your way of thinking / your worldview?

It’s not a film or a book but can I say Oprah?

How's your dating life??

I am in a relationship and it seems to be going quite well.

There seems to be a real split between your earlier television work (Popworld/Buzzcocks) and your (later/taped) stand-up shows/later television work in terms of style and subject matter. I never got to see your early stand-up work, so I can't really speak to that. Was Popworld/Buzzcocks an anomaly or was there really a point where you changed things up? Either way, why? What caused the anomaly or change-up?

I think it might just be a case of people being very different depending on who they are with, or the situation they are in at the time. Also I often have some kind of life changing therapy so that may be it.

What was your favourite ever Buzzcocks moment?

I can’t think of one but I had a lovely time.

What profession, other than your own, would you like to attempt?

Psychotherapist.

What's your process when writing a stand-up show?

I go in front of a small audience who haven’t paid very much so I’m free to fail over and over again until I say something funny or interesting.

When you get up in the morning, do you look at yourself in the mirror and say "Lemar, you are one fine piece of man"?

I think this may be a reference to Popworld?

Are you happy?

Yes, but I think happy isn’t the point. I think it is joy and there can be joy in sadness and fury and all the other feelings that make it so much fun to be alive.

What was it like growing up in Gants Hill?

Pretty great until puberty and then perhaps not ideal being a young man who couldn’t stop thinking about Leonardo Di Caprio.

Watching you has brought much joy in my life...what brings you joy?

Dancing, intimacy, sex, fun.

Do you still wish for fan letters?

No but I don’t mind them.

Hey Simon. I went vegan a couple of years back (loving it!). What was the driving force behind your lifestyle change, and did making that change have a big influence on your work/life/approach to comedy?

I stopped eating animals after a holiday in Thailand where I felt drawn to Buddhism specifically a monk on a plane who seemed calm. Then around 6 years ago I stopped drinking or eating anything that had come out of an animal. The entitlement of human beings to imprison and torture non human animals seemed so absurd that it started making its way into the stand up and eventually led to the film Carnage, and now everyone is vegan.

Between all the different things that you have done what are you most proud of?

So far I think it’s probably getting into show business in the first place, which feels like quite a thing for my 13 year old self to have achieved. Then probably everything else, particularly the very personal stuff that has connected with people and Carnage which served some greater purpose beyond my own need to show off.

What's something you've learned recently that you wish you knew earlier?

That I’m very attractive.

Any favourite visual artist/painter?

I am a big fan of Ed Fornieles.

Is there any other genres/fields you would like to span out into besides writing, stand-up, and juggling?

I just finished directing my first feature film so I would like to do more of that.

1.When will benjamin be released? 2.Will What is This be filmed?

I don’t know the answer to either of these questions yet but please ask again in two months.

What makes you laugh?

Anything true.

Curious how you view the differences between US and UK comedians, especially as most UK comics (at least the ones that make it over here) seem to have a specific, tuned show.. whereas the US ones seem to have less of a structure, and more ability to swap things in and out at will? (unless of course that characterization is completely erroneous)

That sounds like it might be true. But there are a lot of comedians in the UK who are not very good at structure. I just saw Hassan Minhaj’s special on Netflix which was structured beautifully.

What was it like reading through old stand up shows to select excerpts for your book?

It was funny, painful and quite time consuming.

Hi Simon. I've been a vegan for three months now after watching Carnage so thank you for that.

I wanted to know what your favourite thing about New York is? I went last year and found the 9/11 Museum fascinating. Hope you enjoy your time out there!

Elena :) x

I like the High Line and MOMA and that everything looks like a film.