Michael McIntyre on his critics: 'They’re doing everything except make people laugh, and that's the hardest thing to do'

He added: 'I got more laughs, so they don’t like it'

Michael McIntyre said it was "touch and go" whether he would be able to perform (Getty)

Michael McIntyre has had to defend himself against critics a number of times, in 2012 saying about those who dismiss him as 'just noticing stuff’: “What I'd like to say to these people is, if it's so easy then why don't you do it?"

In another combative interview, the 39-year-old – reportedly Britain’s highest earning stand-up - has hit back against comics once again, criticising those who claim he just plays it safe.

“They’re doing everything except make people laugh, and that is actually the hardest thing to do,” he told the Sunday Times. “I work really hard at it. I don’t know what they’re trying to do.

“And I worked with a lot of these comics, they seem to have forgotten. I was on the circuit, I was doing all right. It’s not like I came from some talent show on the TV. I did it with them, and I got more laughs, so they don’t like it.”

Since appearing at the Royal Variety Performance in 2006 and his rapid rise to fame, McIntyre has been criticised on numerous occasions, Stewart Lee infamously describing him as “spoon-feeding his audience warm diarrhoea” in a routine.

The Comedy Roadshow host is currently performing his Happy and Glorious tour until 11 December. On one of his London O2 dates, he made a woman laugh so hard she gave birth six weeks early.