RACHEL PARRIS

I've always read the papers but didn't feel I knew enough in the past. But doing the research and looking at newspapers and online websites gives you a 360-degree view of the news.

Unless you're Barack Obama, you cannot pull off an impromptu a capella rendition of a heart-warming song in the middle of a speech.

I'm a sports idiot - watching it, playing it, making conversation about it - I got nothing.

And sometimes you can make your point better with comedy than you can through shouting about it.

I'm lucky to have depression less severely than a lot of people. I know some find it useful to talk about it and people are definitely doing that more. It's becoming less stigmatised.

I've been a musician and a songwriter for years, since I was a teenager, and made my living doing that on and off for a long time, so when it came to writing comedy material, it was the thing that came easiest to me, the most natural way of writing.

I started doing improv comedy in 2007, and I think it was that that gave me the confidence to try doing stand-up!

I don't really get heckled! I think it's because I might burst into song at any moment and even rude people have a weird respect for not interrupting singing!

I've got a few things on YouTube and the most I've ever had is about 8,000 clicks over five years.

You gig and gig and wonder what your first Edinburgh show will be like, if people will like it, and when they do, it just feels like it validates the last few years of your life, and that you're on the right track.

And sometimes you can make your point better with comedy than you can through shouting about it.

I've always read the papers but didn't feel I knew enough in the past. But doing the research and looking at newspapers and online websites gives you a 360-degree view of the news.

I'd always liked having a laugh with my friends, and I'd done comedy in plays; but then my friends asked me to join this improv troupe and it went well and I started performing with them.

It is easy to misunderstand what a comedy song is, or what its potential is. I'm used to musical comedy being maligned as an easy artform.

I've got a few things on YouTube and the most I've ever had is about 8,000 clicks over five years.

I've been a musician and a songwriter for years, since I was a teenager, and made my living doing that on and off for a long time, so when it came to writing comedy material, it was the thing that came easiest to me, the most natural way of writing.

Determined cheerfulness is something I happen to do very well.

No-one wants to hear a crude joke at the expense of the Principal, or the Bridegroom, or the head of the company. Well, they do, but wait 'til you're offstage then WhatsApp it to everyone instead.

There's a very delicate but important contract that a Royal has with the British public and it's this: Most people don't mind paying for the Royals as long as those Royals live a miserable, thwarted existence full of horrible compromise.

I thought there would be a lot of, you know, transferable skills, from acting and comedy, but there weren't that many!

I mean, the number one goal is to make people laugh, that's definitely the first aim; but aside from that, when we discuss which topics to talk about, the second goal is to try and make a point about it.

People like to be moved, that's why they're here listening to you instead of sitting at home with the Shipping Forecast.

I don't really get heckled! I think it's because I might burst into song at any moment and even rude people have a weird respect for not interrupting singing!

I'm lucky to have depression less severely than a lot of people. I know some find it useful to talk about it and people are definitely doing that more. It's becoming less stigmatised.

I started doing improv comedy in 2007, and I think it was that that gave me the confidence to try doing stand-up!

I'm a sports idiot - watching it, playing it, making conversation about it - I got nothing.

Unless you're Barack Obama, you cannot pull off an impromptu a capella rendition of a heart-warming song in the middle of a speech.

You can still have comedy which is sensitive to the topic, where you're laughing at the right part of it, you're not mocking the things that shouldn't be mocked.

You gig and gig and wonder what your first Edinburgh show will be like, if people will like it, and when they do, it just feels like it validates the last few years of your life, and that you're on the right track.

The first time I saw Tim Minchin live, it was his 2008 show 'Ready for This?' in a very big room at the Pleasance during the Edinburgh fringe.

If you're mocking anyone, make sure it's those at the top of the food chain, not the bottom.

I know it's TV, but at the same time you don't foresee that so many people all over the world are going to see it, and have an opinion on it.

Much like Tim Minchin, I'd love to write and appear in a West End Musical. That's the dream.

There is almost no topic that can't benefit from being talked about in a humorous way.