I am a very open, social, friendly person, and when it comes to people approaching me and asking for an autograph, I am totally cool with doing any of that. It's a lot of fun.
If Cole and I are together, we're noticeable. Fan encounters come with the job, and you can't shy away from them.
The bad thing about being a famous comedian is that every now and then someone approaches me to tell an old joke. Don't tell me jokes - I have that. People also say the weirdest things, sometimes sarcastic things, and even evil things. They like to provoke to get a reaction.
People will come up to me everywhere and say, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Larry King,' and, 'Ah, I saw you on 'Oprah.' And it's really nice, and a lot of people say, 'Is it a pain?' And I say 'No.' And it's not annoying.
I totally lucked out by meeting a lot of amazing people. I guess it stems from going to shows and being confident enough to meet people and be able to talk to them like a normal person rather than have my head down all the time.
Part of it has to do with this business of being approached in public. I have a distinctive look - it's partly the glasses I wear - and people seem to remember me once they've seen me.
When I was living in New York, there was a lot of screaming in my life. I would just get into these altercations all the time. Being in public, dealing with shopkeepers, just trying to cross the street - things like that.
It takes about three times as long to explain to someone why you won't give them an autograph as it does to actually give them an autograph.
You get people coming up to you and asking about movies, especially in Chennai, which is nice.
When I meet viewers in person, it always seems to be entire family units.
It might take me an hour to get to feel at ease with somebody. I don't find it easy to go into a room full of 10 people and give it all away. In the pilot season in Los Angeles I've done that a couple of times.
I get spotted quite a bit walking about the streets in Belfast and it's okay, I don't mind it, they come up and shake your hand.
It does get crazy sometimes, but I've never complained about stopping to give autographs or anything like that.
I think sometimes in the focus on deep friendships and on romantic relationships, we can lose sight of how important the small connections we make are with strangers and with people that we may encounter for just a few seconds or a few minutes, whether it's the barista at our coffee shop or the stranger next to us on the subway.
Do people ever ask me to say 'Wow?' Never in interviews, but a few times on the street. I don't do it. I try to get away from them as quickly as possible and explain that I'm not a performing seal.
I'm in what feels like a pretty transparent fishbowl as mayor. People see you at the market, people see you at the diner, people see you wherever you are, talk to you. You don't shave, they're taking selfies of you. You come back from your jog, they're talking to you.
I like to go to the subway and hear what people are thinking and feeling and what their concerns are. You learn so much that way. You really do.
If you can dress as a stormtrooper and go to a laundromat, or wear a sexy cheese gown in public, you might start to find "normal" social interactions a little less daunting.
I meet a lot of people after shows, and I have to say it's pretty intense.
Getting stopped in the middle of the lingerie section, when you're trying to stock up on a few things, by an older man who wants a selfie is a little bit awkward... but I don't let that get in the way of me trying to do normal things, because that is when I get to interact with people as well. Preferably not amongst the underwear, though.
As far as open conversations with random people, no I don't really enjoy them.
The few people who ask to have their photographs with me, I almost always say yes, except for a few circumstances, like when my family is around.
You should prepare when you go to a public event to be public. That's when I will sign autographs. But not when you're going about your normal business.
It can be embarrassing. People come up to me and say, 'I love your show,' and I have no idea which one they're talking about.
I don't know what it is about me: I am no Rock Hudson, but I absolutely wow all the little old white-haired ladies. They stop me and talk to me all over the country, on the street, in restaurants, in elevators.
