Stephen Merchant: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Stephen Merchant

English comedian and actor

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Watching Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury. During Because The Night I actually shouted, "This is the greatest moment of my life!"

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2013 source ↗

Others on this question

Benjamin Zephaniah British poet and author

In 1985, in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, sitting on the veranda with my grandmother, people-watching, and listening to poetry and local gossip.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 October 2011 source ↗

Jason Byrne Irish comedian

When I worked in an electrical warehouse in Dublin. I got £60 a week wiring plugs.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 November 2012 source ↗

Pauline McLynn Irish character actress and author

I hope the happiest moment is still ahead of me.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 July 2023 source ↗

On a beach, watching my girls do cartwheels, with a Goombay Smash with a floater on top.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2025 source ↗

More air miles.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2013 source ↗

Is That All There Is? by Peggy Lee.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2013 source ↗

Failing to get anything in the New Year honours, not even a poxy CBE.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2013 source ↗

Search the directory for somebody in particular.