Comedy is a true addiction; if you stand on that stage for one night and feel the laughter crack around your ears then you will spend the rest of your life chasing that hit over and over again. It is really like ‘Hotel California' - you can check out any time you want but you can never leave. I need to get on stage; I am the quintessential attention seeker.

I have a supportive husband who bites the head off anyone who regards my ‘calling to comedy’ as frivolous. He knows if I don’t get on stage at least once a week, I turn into a snarling wolverine!

Being a comic, wife and mother is no different from being a comic, husband and father, as far as I can tell. Other people in other jobs tend to point out the difference by asking me, "Doesn't your husband mind you going off and leaving him behind to look after your child?" They would never ask a man who worked on the oil rigs did his wife mind staying at home to keep house.

I don't believe there is sexism in comedy, although other people would argue differently. Maybe being a Scottish female comic made me come to this opinion, as I was never a token 'girl' on the bill. I was always just another act. Scottish audiences are less apprehensive of female comics and I reckon this is due to Scottish people being raised by strong women and accepting them as ambitious and funny!

But being a woman stepping on stage can still sometimes create an instant reaction of ‘Oh it’s a woman; I hope she will be funny’. I avoid the typical material that some audiences expect of female comics, I don’t ‘bash men’, talk about my period, nor talk about‘How men won’t date me'.

My act is really story telling. My life has been the basis of my material from day one. So much so that Random House publishers have commissioned me to write my biography.

By day I write the past into the laptop and nights are spent pulling out the anecdotes to a live audience; then I pack up and move on to the next gig.

Arriving in any strange city always brings a mixture of excitement and fear for me. I quickly realise that in at least four hours' time I will be standing on a stage or a box, whatever the excuse for a comedy night is, and will be trying to make the people of this town laugh.

My job has taken me to far flung destinations, even as far as New Zealand. The Kiwis have a great comedy festival - the delight of finishing a gig and going to sit on the beach makes all the difference! I love the travelling and seeing new places.

Amsterdam is always a challenge; not everything in my act will translate but it is fun finding out what they actually laugh at! Recently, I found out that the Dutch word for 'Posh' is 'Kack' which also means 'crap'; that alone made the trip worthwhile for me, although I suspect 'Posh Spice' was never told that when she visited Holland!

Even while I am away, having the internet means I am never too far from the tribulations of home. I get daily messages from my teenage daughter complaining about how her father does not clean the house enough or requests for my pin number so she can ransack my bank account.

Coming home is great fun and catching up with all the family politics keeps us all on our toes. I will never forget the time when I came home to discover my husband and daughter had redecorated the house and made major furniture purchases without my input. I am not sure I like the bright yellow and tangy orange living room with funky sofas. It's like living with the Tweenies. Not my taste... But, like everything else that happens to me, I tell it on stage!