He grew up in a Jewish family in Stanmore, Middlesex, with his older brother Howard (who now manages him), his mother Diana and his father John, who had an aluminium business and cooked the books when he got into money trouble. Matt discovered acting at school, Haberdashers' Aske's – where he met Baron Cohen – and by 13 was in the West End. At 16 he met Walliams in the National Youth Theatre, and by 18 he was doing stand-up. It was incredibly exciting,' he says, looking more cheerful. I didn't come from money. I used to get paid £80 in cash for it. It was a great sense of affirmation because my self-image was very poor – I struggled with my weight, with my sexuality, my parents were divorced, my dad was in prison, I had no hair – so I never felt that good about myself. Then I could walk into a room full of strangers and for 20 minutes make them really laugh, and get paid for it, and be asked to come back.'
