CELEBRITY FANS:PJ Gallagher, Comedian, 35, Motorcycle Racing

When did you get into motorbikes?I got into it when my father died. Back in 1999 he died of cancer. I was just in a bad state, as you would be. A friend of mine bought a bike and he gave me a go on it. I'd never been on one before.

I just remember sitting on it and it was the first time that I forgot everything. It opened me up – it was the first time I started laughing again.

It was the first time I remember things just changing, I was doing something that took my mind off things.

From that day, it’s been a complete and utter addiction.

Can you explain the feeling?On a bike every second counts. You really are in the moment. Literally, the two or three seconds in front of your face is the difference between having the best time of your life and maybe getting everything wrong. It's the most incredible feeling in the world.

I don’t think I’ve ever taken the helmet off and not had a smile on my face. When I’m on a bike is the one time when I’m 100 per cent happy. The feeling on stage never matches it.

You mean it's a better buzz than live comedy?Yeah. Maybe it's the lack of risk in comedy. If you die on stage, you just sit in the dressingroom for a couple of hours (laughs). You get it wrong on a bike and you could be six weeks lying on your back in a hospital. There's sort of a beautiful danger attached to the whole thing.

What has been the biggest surprise from your career in competitive racing?I suppose the relationship that you build up with people on the track. It's an expensive old sport and bikes being bikes, they break and go wrong.

Then you’ll stay up all night working with this guy and giving all your time to someone – and someone giving all their time to you – just to make sure you’re on the line the next morning.

Then, as soon as the lights go out, all you want to do is beat that guy, that’s the only thing that matters, but as soon as you see the chequered flag you’re back to being mates again.

It’s a very strange relationship. That took me by surprise. I didn’t see that coming. I didn’t expect to be as involved socially.

Have you had any bad spills?I broke my collarbone last year. I've broken my ankle, which I had surgery on in January; it's slowly getting better.

And those injuries haven't discouraged you?No – quite the opposite; it makes you more determined to get out. When you start doing it the quality of your life goes up so much that the thought of a few broken bones doesn't matter.

You start finding doctors that can fix you up. There’s a fella in England who’s known as “The Bone Welder”. If you get a good smack, you head over to “The Bone Welder”. He’s got some laser-machine. He’ll put you back together in no time. You just start to look past it.

When you were growing up, were you into Barry Sheene and the likes?I was to a point. It was a passing interest. I never got into the racing end of things until I started riding bikes on the road. I was more of a BMX kid growing up, doing ramps and stuff.

My first motorcycle was an Evel Knievel stunt cycle which is probably appropriate because, given my crash rate, I take more after him than Barry Sheene.

Did you ever see one of Evel Knievel's live shows?No, I'd love to but I was just too young when he was throwing himself over buses. I used to love his attitude, though. He didn't expect to make half his jumps. The big deal for him was: can I stand up when it all goes wrong? It was just insane.

He did the Wembley Stadium show. I can’t remember the number but he jumped over some ridiculous amount of buses, and he was on a Harley Davidson. Those bikes are totally developed for the ground. A flying Harley Davidson is harder to think about than a flying pig.

Yet, this fella goes and tries to throw one over a fleet of buses. It went completely wrong where he broke practically every bone in his body bar his back, and crushed his hips. They picked him up by his shoulders and he walked out of the building. He famously said one time: “You’re never a failure as long as you try and get up.”

Thats kind of a mantra Ive been trying to live by.

PJ Gallagher will perform at the Carlsberg Comedy Carnival, Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, July 22nd-25th.