‘A lot of comedians don’t have a sense of humour’: Jack Dee on his loser Lead Balloon creation Rick Spleen

‘Bringing a pig home was going too far’ … Jack Dee as not-very-funny comedian Rick Spleen. Photograph: BBC/Open Mike Productions

Jack Dee, creator, co-writer, played Rick Spleen

I was doing a lot of standup, working with other comedy writers. I was interested in the relationship between writer and performer. I wondered: “What if the writer is funnier than the performer?” I approached Pete Sinclair, who I’d written with for a long time, and said: “What do you reckon?” BBC4 commissioned a pilot.