1 An esteemed alumni of Cambridge Footlights, Cheshire-born Jan Ravens was doing sketchy stuff for them in the years which included the likes of Clive Anderson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Douglas Adams. She clearly had something a little bit extra as she was named the first female Footlights president in 1979. In 1981, she directed the Footlights show which became the first ever winner of the Perrier Award.

2 At the Fringe the following year, she put on a revue with her then husband Steve Brown, which led her to the attentions of Jasper Carrott and her first TV work was secured.

3 She gets toothache from listening to jazz.

4 She was the voice of the yawning penguin on the spine of an Iris Murdoch paperback in those British Rail ‘relax’ ads from the 1980s.

5 Her son is stand-up Alfie Brown who will be hoping to follow in mom’s footsteps when he makes his Edinburgh debut this August as part of the Five Pound Fringe in The Lunchtime Club.