^{Pictures: Matt Crockett}

My comedy hero is Sean Lock. I don’t think I’ll be alone in that. When he died, most of the comedy industry wrote about how brilliant he was. Despite not having social media, he dominated it for days. I think what we loved about him so much is that he was very real; he felt like your dad or your dad’s friend. In fact, I called him my dad a few times on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, and he went along with it; something my own dad doesn’t always do. But he also had this magical silliness about him that was so hilarious but also very creative and unexpected. 

It was intimidating to be in a room with Sean because he was the best, and everyone knew it. He wasn’t easily impressed, and I don’t think he would have ever been able to be fake; I over-laugh which is a horrible habit, and he never did that. So if you did make him laugh, that was the best feeling in the world. 

I feel very lucky that I got to work with him on 8 Out Of 10 Cats. I think I learned from Sean to always see the silly side of something, to always be 100% yourself and say what you’re thinking. The world definitely feels worse for not being able to know what Sean would think.

Harriet Kemsley: Honeysuckle Island is on tour until Saturday 10 December.