The comedian on liberating a budgie, stealing carrier bags, and his recent brush with death

Born in Kent, Mark Steel, 64, began his radio career in 1992 with the satirical show The Mark Steel Solution. From 1999 to 2002, he presented The Mark Steel Lectures on Radio 4, which was nominated for a Bafta when it transferred to television. He has made 13 series of Mark Steel’s in Town for Radio 4, and his podcast is What the F*** Is Going On?. On 12 February, he begins a tour of The Leopard in My House and publishes an accompanying book. He lives in London and has two children. His partner is the comedian Shaparak Khorsandi.

What is your earliest memory?
When I was three years old, my mum and dad took the budgie cage out into the garden to clean it and I thought: “I’m going to open the door to see what happens.” Obviously what happened was the budgie flew out of the cage. I remember thinking: “Blimey, I’ve gone and done it now”, which sort of set the tone for the rest of my life.