Simon Amstell

I'm always more scared of things not changing, of not being as alive as I could be.

— Simon Amstell

It's never my intention to upset anyone or humiliate or shame anyone.

— Simon Amstell

You have to keep shedding old skin in order to be reborn as something else.

— Simon Amstell

I've found it's quite difficult to retain depression if you're jumping around every morning like a lunatic.

— Simon Amstell

Everything I try to do is about slaying that dragon of shame.

— Simon Amstell

I want being funny to be something that I can just use rather than something I need.

— Simon Amstell

I used to think that laughter would solve everything and I would never be lonely.

— Simon Amstell

What I discovered about myself is that I really like being in charge.

— Simon Amstell

Part of my defence mechanism is humour, so sometimes when I'm being funny, it's just as a way of stopping people from…

— Simon Amstell

As I've got older, I've got into doing much more stand-up, and much more writing and directing, and so there's been this…

— Simon Amstell

Any bit of good stand-up I've done has usually been when I've been deeply embarrassed to say the thing out loud.

— Simon Amstell

If you're feeling rage towards someone, it's quite difficult to have a nice time. But if you can do some work with…

— Simon Amstell

I got my first job in television when I was 18, on the kids' cable channel Nickelodeon, introducing the 'Rugrats' and other…

— Simon Amstell

I don't think I would have been able to exist in any kind of joyful, peaceful way if I hadn't been able…

— Simon Amstell

You must love yourself. The reasons you have for not loving yourself, you have made up. Interrogate these false allegations until the…

— Simon Amstell

This will perhaps sound arrogant but it comes after a lot of thinking about it - there's nobody better at being Simon…

— Simon Amstell

You see people who are still there doing things but their souls have disappeared so there's no joy in it anymore, so…

— Simon Amstell

After directing 'Carnage,' I felt such satisfaction from being behind the camera and only doing the voiceover. It felt like enough for…

— Simon Amstell

I can't bear small talk, it's awful. I want to get beyond that thing of discussing how the weather is a bit…

— Simon Amstell

The first time I got into therapy was when I was 29 - it's always when I'm about to hit a number.…

— Simon Amstell

I'll just talk and talk for an hour, an hour and half, until funny things come out of my mouth - often…

— Simon Amstell

I'm not playing a character. What I'm doing though is taking the worst, most shameful, peculiar, or troubling aspects of my personality.…

— Simon Amstell

I watched a film called 'Earthlings' years ago and it helped to upset me into veganism, so I thought what I could…

— Simon Amstell

I've stopped doing things that aren't clear comedy gigs - to do something that's not "comedy night," it's a difficult thing. People…

— Simon Amstell

I'm not interested in something that's going to make me feel worse afterwards.

— Simon Amstell

Thanks to people like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin, it's real freedom to do stand-up comedy.

— Simon Amstell

I don't think I have any regrets, it's a waste of energy because what can you do?

— Simon Amstell

I'm really into comedy where you're not sure whether you're supposed to be laughing or crying.

— Simon Amstell

Numb' was about depression. Before it was fashionable!

— Simon Amstell

As a teenager, I found a lot of courage through people on the television being funny or subversive.

— Simon Amstell

I really only trust my own feelings when I am writing something.

— Simon Amstell

The things I loved growing up, like 'Roseanne,' actually said something about actual human beings.

— Simon Amstell

I'm not interested in doing a thing just for the sake of making my name and face well known.

— Simon Amstell

Normal is invented. The word 'weird' is invented, and used by people who are scared of who they are.

— Simon Amstell

I think if people could watch 'Benjamin' and then remember it, that would be great.

— Simon Amstell

There's no amount of applause that is going to make you happy.

— Simon Amstell

I've always felt that comedy doesn't just come from misery. It comes from an absurdity around that misery.

— Simon Amstell

I am more interested in finding peace than upsetting anyone.

— Simon Amstell

As I was about to turn 40, I realised it wasn't going to be possible to carry on being in my 30s.…

— Simon Amstell

To me, stand-up comedy is a place where you can say whatever you want. So to not use that space to say…

— Simon Amstell