So you enjoy making people feel uncomfortable?

Yes, yes I do.

Only when you’re performing?

Oh no, especially in my personal life and with strangers. I like those moments where the air is sucked out of the room. It’s harder to have them now I’m more recognisable, but I love to ask the most annoying, worst question. I like to look at the darkest parts of life.

Can you give me an example?

If I’m in Starbucks and they ask, “What’s your name?” I might say, “Auschwitz”, so they have to yell out “Auschwitz”. Anything entertaining to me makes me happy. We were at a restaurant [Chiltern Firehouse] last night and the waiter said, “I’ll bring over your menus soon.” A minute later he’s handing out the menus and I’m like, “We didn’t get menus!” He just can’t f**king believe it. And I’m like, “Is this the menu?” I just love it.

Do you care what people think about you? That behaviour suggests you don’t…

I guess they go hand in hand. But no, I don’t care. Everyone’s so obsessed with themselves really!

Have you ever worried about that?

I’ve had moments where I forget that I don’t care, for example with a guy in college, I’d be like, “Oh I hope he…” and then I’m like, “I don’t even like this guy, what am I doing?” I care what my friends and family think but if 30,000 people were tweeting, “You’re an idiot”, it wouldn’t affect the course of my day at all. Am I mentally ill?

Has that let you push the boundaries with your comedy?

Yes. Being fearless on stage is a superpower.

Were you encouraged to be fearless growing up?

I was definitely born like that. My parents were so supportive, they made me think that I was beautiful and talented and amazing. I would grab my mom in a busy restaurant and loudly say, “I want to tell everyone how much I love my mother,” and she would be so embarrassed. This was not a learned behaviour, this was just in me, I don’t know why.

Did they know how to react to it?

No, they adjusted to it. They love comedy though. They showed us The Muppet Show and a lot of stand-up. My dad is so sarcastic, he really doesn’t give a sh*t what anybody thinks. If we’re in a restaurant and someone coughed at the table next to us, he’d say, “Urgh!” really audibly.

“Being fearless on stage is a superpower” Stylist meets the irrepressible Amy Schumer