Sleep
I try to go to bed around midnight because I like to get up early, at 7am. It’s difficult to wind down when you come off stage because of the adrenaline. It keeps me awake longer than I would like. During school term-time, when I’m performing in the evening, I’ll do the school run with my son Dax, 14, and have a catch-up nap later in the morning.
Eat
I’m an omnivore, although I am trying to eat less meat. I went vegetarian for about two years, then I suddenly got a craving one morning and that was it. When I’m going to be on stage that evening, I have to eat at around four or five o’clock. If you eat too late and get indigestion, or eat too early and are hungry when you perform, it’s not good. The two worst enemies of comedy are lack of sleep and not having had a decent meal.
Work
I have a lot of projects on, but I feel just about in control of my work life. I find that I am quite productive when I’m writing, but I always stop for lunch. I also try to do something physical in the afternoon, like a bike ride for half an hour or a visit to the gym. For me, a creative process has to include physical activity. You start thinking on another level – a basic one, rather than a cerebral one.
Family
When I’m away, we’re in regular contact via Skype or FaceTime. During my recent tour in Australia and New Zealand, the family came out during half-term. I am pretty laid-back as a parent, but I do like a lot of activity. So I am constantly suggesting things to do that involve some physical activity: cycling, mountain biking and paddleboarding.
Fun
I love to watch birds and wildlife. Me and my mates have a book on walks around London, so I take the binoculars and maybe see a few birds along the way. When Dax was a bit younger, he was very into console games and I got into them, too. Now a lot of them are online multiplayer games, which are extraordinary. He chats away to his mates all round the world while they tear up some post-apocalyptic landscape.
• Bill Bailey’s Larks In Transit is at Wyndham’s Theatre, London WC2, from 3 December 2018 to 5 January 2019, then touring. Limboland is released on DVD and digital download on 26 November
