Hello, I'm Kirstie Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Disks from BBC Radio 4.

For rights reasons, the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

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Radio 4. My castaway this week is the comedian Lee Mack. He writes and stars in the BBC

one hit Not Going Out. His stand-up tours do great business and his lightning sharp

comedy reflexes are also put to good use on a number of prime-time panel shows.

He seems like he's just got funny bones but in reality he is a grafter free association and observational

comedy aren't his style proper jokes with wordplay and punchlines are

takes him around six weeks to write just one episode of his sitcom. His first ever

performance was from on top of a porter cabin doing impressions for his

schoolmates below, but it took him more than 10 years to pluck up the courage

to step on stage. Leaving school with

two o-levels and a cheeky grin he had a stint as Red Rum Stable Boy and a bash at being a professional darts

player. Having finally found his way into the nation's living rooms he says of

his comedy career I'm the kind of person that if I don't think it's hard work I

worry that it's not worthwhile. I have to feel as if I have struggled a bit. From the outside

Ben all good comedy I suppose looks effortless. It is genuinely a struggle for you is it?

Yeah I wouldn't say necessarily for me specific. I think it's struggle for all comics to write.

It's just the writing. I always think the writing is God's way of punishing you for having the best job in the world.

Right. But it's actually the second best job in the world because professional footballer is the best

job in the world. That seems like just about the only job you haven't tried.

Yeah that's true. I should point out when you say Avagat being a professional darts

...