Cultural Life: Janeane Garofalo, comedian

Music

I was just listening to XTC's 'The Big Express' and a Boston band called Dumptruck. They are no longer together, but if you want to look them up the CD is called 'D is for Dumptruck'. I have also been listening to the Fleet Foxes album.

Books

I am reading 'The Maple Stories' by John Updike. It's a collection of short stories that are loosely based around a young couple in the Sixties and Seventies. I was also reading a collection of short stories called 'Delicate Edible Birds' by Lauren Groff. She wrote a fantastic book called 'The Monsters of Templeton' – this is her second book.

Television

I'm a big fan of 'True Blood', which is about vampires. I like the show 'Mad Men', too. I like to watch 'The Daily Show' and 'The Colbert Report'. There's a British series called 'Ideal' that I like a lot. When I was in Edinburgh I saw a great TV show called 'Jam and Jerusalem' written by Jennifer Saunders.

Comedy

At the Edinburgh Festival I saw David O'Doherty. I really enjoyed his show, he was very funny. I saw Rhys Darby too, who I hadn't seen before, but I always enjoy watching him on 'Flight of the Conchords'.

Janeane Garofalo performs two shows at Bloomsbury Theatre, London, 25 Sept (020 7388 8822)