Nina Conti: ‘I love all swear words, the stronger the better’ | Nina Conti

The funniest sketch I’ve ever seen …

Most recently it was the Famalam sketch, Midsummer Motherfuckin’ Murders. Adam and Joe’s The Queen is a big fave with me and my kids, as is Sam Simmons’s bread shoes bit in Live at the Apollo.

The funniest book I’ve ever read …

Anna Karenina. The characters’ feelings are so well described I find myself laughing at the deep woe of their emotions. It’s just too well written not to laugh.

The funniest film I’ve ever seen …

I’ll take the beginning of Superbad and the end of Little Miss Sunshine and the sex scene from Midsommar.

The funniest item of clothing I’ve ever owned …

The insulated waterproof workwear jumpsuit that got me through lockdown. We’d put them on to go drink beers on the hill. They were impervious. But you look like you’re off to put out cones on the M1.

The funniest hairstyle I’ve ever had …

My whole life has been a war on making my straight hair curly and eventually I gave in and got a perm. A real tight one. And later that week an extremely short haircut.

The funniest dream I’ve ever had …

When I was pregnant I dreamed my baby was born with ventriloquial cuts from the corners of his mouth down to the jaw, and I couldn’t find the hand hole to make him talk. Sorry, did you say funniest?

The funniest thing that shouldn’t be funny …

When someone asks how an acquaintance is, and the answer is “dead”.

The funniest word …

I’m not allowed to put my favourites in print. I love all swear words, the stronger the better.

The funniest joke I’ve ever heard …

I went to the corner shop leaving my good friend Sarah Kendall in my flat with my 17-year-old son and his awkward friends. As I returned with my key in the door she shouted: “Pants on, boys! Mum’s back!”

Nina Conti: The Dating Show tours 31 Oct to 3 Feb