It never really occurs to me that I’m doing cringe comedy. It’s something that people tell me afterwards, and I say, ‘Again? Really? I never set out with that intention.’ – Stephen Merchant
A lot of my comic influences are distinctly American: Woody Allen and Bob Hope, for example. They were always the underdogs who were using wit to sort of battle their way through. And it seems to me that a lot of contemporary U.S. comedies are shot through with losers. None of the characters in ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ for instance, are studs. – Stephen Merchant
I’ve jokingly said that everything I’m doing now is filling up the hours before I die, but I do feel that slightly. I have no religious beliefs so this is the ride. This is it. So I’m just like anyone, I suppose, trying to fill out the days in the most interesting way possible. – Stephen Merchant
When we did ‘The Office,’ no one knew who we were, so it was easy to champion us; you could own us. Once you become successful, people don’t have that any more, so it becomes more polarised. Some people want to champion you, and others want to slag you off. It doesn’t concern me. – Stephen Merchant
People don’t mind insulting the tall. We’re supposed to be fine with being awkward and skinny. I’m very easy to psychoanalyse. I was a gangly, awkward teenager who could make people laugh and thought that was a way to be socially more comfortable. – Stephen Merchant
I know that this sounds grand, but I don’t try to compete with other people. I like to think there’s enough pie for everyone. The kind of people I’m competing with are my heroes – Woody Allen, Billy Wilder – who I know I’m going to fall short of. – Stephen Merchant
A lot of stand-up comedians are actually very insecure, and they come on slightly battling the audience. They want to be the superior person in the room, sneering at the world. That can be very funny. But to me, what’s more interesting is that the world is on my shoulders, and it’s pushing me down. – Stephen Merchant
I have experienced bad dating and ineptitude with women all across the globe, from Vietnam to Paris. When I was 21, women were an enigma; they were this code that had to be cracked. They were ‘The Other.’ I have often thought writing this stuff into stand-up and shows would be an exorcism, but it hasn’t been; it makes no difference. – Stephen Merchant
I’m too tall. I am 6ft 7in, so I’ve been most people’s height at some point in my life, and 6ft 4in is the best. You’re tall, but you don’t have to bend when you go through a door. – Stephen Merchant
I used to be quite a big video game player at university and post-university in that weird moment in life before you have a proper job and you’ve got a lot of idle time. – Stephen Merchant
I wish I could write ‘Taxi Driver,’ or ‘Blue Velvet,’ something brave, audacious, dramatic and dark. I don’t know if I have the darkness in my own soul to be able to tap into it, unfortunately. – Stephen Merchant
Once I began doing stand-up, I didn’t get a kick out of the applause or being the centre of attention – but I did get a kick out of the jigsaw puzzle aspect of it, searching for the right bit, adding another few pieces each night until the bigger picture appears. That’s the appeal: the challenge of it. – Stephen Merchant
When I was a teenager, I met a comedian who I admired, and he was very rude to me. That’s why when people come up to me I try not to be rude. I don’t want to name who he is, but it really put me off watching his stuff since. – Stephen Merchant
I don’t have any hidden depths; I’m a very superficial person. It’s a constant frustration to me. – Stephen Merchant
Remember that film ‘Sliding Doors,’ when John Hannah woos Gwyneth Paltrow by reciting Monty Python sketches? I can tell you now that doesn’t work, so that film’s wrong. – Stephen Merchant
People think all fame is the same, but being on BBC Two from time to time does not make you Warren Beatty. I honestly can’t impress that upon people enough. – Stephen Merchant
My teeth are all right, but they are not American teeth, and my hair is not thick and luscious. Los Angeles is dense with beautiful people, and most of the men who are aspiring actors are 5ft 5in, so I tower above them. – Stephen Merchant
I was trying for years to woo people through humour, but it seems flash cars are much easier. – Stephen Merchant
There’s this way pop culture has been rammed down our throats that people think that if they were just in the right place at the right time, they’d be married to Heidi Klum. – Stephen Merchant
It’s not like I think: ‘By the age of 40 I’ve got to be an international household name.’ When the opportunity to perform comes up, then I’ll take it. It’s really good fun. But because I don’t crave the attention or the buzz, it’s not like I’m desperate for it. – Stephen Merchant
My heroes – people like Woody Allen – were stand-up comedians. Therefore, I always felt I should give it a go. – Stephen Merchant
Maybe there’s a sort of veneer of optimism about U.S. comedy, whereas perhaps in England, we don’t mind ending it on a sourer note. – Stephen Merchant
I’ve always been a fan of physical comedy. It kind of hits you in a different way; it bypasses the intellect and hits you in the gut. – Stephen Merchant
When I started to mention to people who know about such things, ‘I’m doing this game, ‘Portal 2’, they got very excited, suddenly. More excited than anything I’ve ever done before, weirdly. Gamers are incredibly enthusiastic about the stuff they love. – Stephen Merchant
I suffered when I was in my late twenties and early thirties. I was awkward, I stuck out, I was nerdy. – Stephen Merchant
