Dee: 'Stand-up was like a dreamscape'

Jack Dee has revealed that he felt thrilled by the experience when he started doing stand-up comedy.

The Lead Balloon star began his career at The Comedy Store in Leicester Square after initially considering becoming a vicar.

Dee told the Evening Standard of his early gigs: "It was like walking into a cone of light, and you feel inside it, embraced by it.

"Reality becomes heightened. I remember thinking, 'God, this is weird, it's like a dreamscape'. I think the strongest impulse for me is finding people who agree with things I've observed."

He added: "And I'm sure part of it all is the desire to be heard and listened to. The wonderful Scottish comedian Arnold Brown says he became a comedian to make up for the attention he never got as an adult. I love that.

"I don't think I could have lived with this nagging compulsion to be a performer much longer than I did, and remained sane or happy in any meaningful sense."