Doing a compulsory standup routine in my first week of drama school.
How close have you come to death?
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Rolling a quad bike.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 February 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 209 →
Marc Almond
English singer
The motorcycle crash, but also when a neon sign fell on my head in Soho in the 90s.
Tracey Ullman
British and American actress
On a plane with Meryl Streep in 1984: the engines blew and we had to make an emergency landing.
Philippa Perry
Psychotherapist and author
I’m closer today than I was yesterday.
More from Marcus Mumford
View profile →Working in farming in Somerset at 18, there were elements that were awful, and they were all really edifying. I mean, feeding chickens in sleet was hard work but I am so glad I did it.
One of the first TV appearances that our band made in America, on the Craig Ferguson show. I forgot the lyrics to Little Lion Man and then broke two strings.
This morning, in a really great conversation with my dad.
Infinity. I can’t get my head round it.
Sickeningly, it’s probably my wife, because she’s a legend.
Not having my injuries: shoulders, knees and ankles. I did a lot of contact sports as a kid.
More on death & what remains
- What would you like to be remembered for? 214 answers
- What song would you like played at your funeral? 178 answers
- If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid doing? 54 answers
- What happens when we die? 51 answers
- What would you like to leave your children? 44 answers
- How would you like to die? 44 answers
Also answered this
Cory Taylor, Carl Barât, Mo Farah, Eve Ensler, Michael Stipe, David Arquette
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All death & what remains questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject