Mario Rosenstock: On My Culture Radar

Current favourite book?
I re-read Revolution in the Head by Ian MacDonald all the time. It's about every Beatles song from the first one ever recorded to the last, in chronological order. It tells you about where it was recorded, what time, who wrote it, what studio, who the sessions musicians were, what the inspiration was, and who had a cold that day. It also tells you about what was going on in the world and The Beatles' writing. It's like being a fly on the wall historically.

Restaurant
I'm the father of a 10-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl so I'm a connoisseur of family-friendly restaurants. We love Platform Pizza in Bray. It's absolutely brilliant; they do the best pizzas for kids that I've come across and good food for adults too. In Carrickmines, there's Vanilla Pod, which also does fantastic Italian food. Their Capitano pizza is my favourite – it's quite hot, with a lot of different Italian meats.

Comedians
I think we have some of the best comic talent in the world on our own doorstep. People who make me laugh for different reasons include Jason Byrne, Tommy Tiernan, David McSavage especially on television, Deirdre O'Kane and Joanne McNally – she's a comedian on the rise. Outside of Ireland, I'm a big fan of Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell and Monty Python.

Play/musical
I've had no time to go out recently, but I've seen Hamilton on YouTube. I was watching it for research purposes and I thought it was very interesting. Why pay €1,500 for a ticket when you can watch it on YouTube?

Lindsey Buckingham leaves Fleetwood Mac ahead of live tour

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‘The Simpsons’ criticised for ‘toothless’ response to Apu row

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Cinema’s best dance scenes, from Travolta to ‘Trainspotting’

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City
Rome has great memories for me and my wife. When you walk around Rome in your runners, you can inhale the full breath of Rome's history and the smells on the street, and see the way people gesticulate and talk to each other. You feel twice as elegant as you felt the day before you arrive. You get notions about yourself, and any place that gives you notions is good.

Podcast
I like An Irishman Abroad by Jarlath Regan because he covers a lot of sports stars on that, and I like the Off the Ball podcasts from Newstalk; they go very deep into sport.

Actor
I've been intrigued by Katharine Hepburn since I was young and I've only recently realised that it was her independence that was attractive. She was so strong and prepared to directly compete with men – and win. It turns out she was a massively talented sportswoman, so she was a jock and used to mixing with men, but for me she was a beautiful, strong woman.

Social media profile
Donald Trump (@realDonaldTrump) is an important person to follow on Twitter, to get the news from the source as soon as it's happened. Might as well hear from him as much as anyone else.

TV show
I have a morbid fascination with Fair City because I take the piss out of it on television, so when my brain wants to veg out, I put that on. And The Crown on Netflix was one of the best things I've seen on television. I have no interest in the Royal Family at all, in fact I'm a little allergic to them, but after the first 15 to 20 minutes of watching it, I forgot about that aspect and started to engage with them as people. It was an extraordinary performance by Claire Foy. She should have definitely got paid more than Matt Smith.

• Mario Rosenstock's 'In Your Face' tour runs until May 26th.