Comedian Ed Kavalee on the important women in his life.

Ed Kavalee is a comedian best known for being a regular on Network Ten’s Have You Been Paying Attention? Here, the 45-year-old talks about being looked after by his older sister, his celebrity crush frequenting his former workplace and how he met his wife.

I never got to know my maternal grandmother, Betty – she died when I was young. She was very close to my mother, Macy. Mum felt that loss as she was a single mother raising two young children.

Mum has always been a “head down and get on with the job” type of person. Mum met my older sister Tippy’s father – a Thai student – in Australia, and they married and lived in Asia. They divorced after a few years, but I carry his surname.

Mum was working at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok when she met my dad, Charles. She was in charge of looking after high-profile guests. Dad was known as the “duck-feather king” in Thailand; he was an Aussie businessman who had factories that made down and duck-feather products.

When Charles found out my mum was pregnant with me, he didn’t want to know. She became ill and moved back to Australia. After I was born, Mum worked as a public servant, an interior designer and even modelled. She didn’t get to go to university as her father discouraged it.

Tippy looked after me when Mum worked. That wasn’t easy for her, as she was a child herself, but I am forever grateful. She has a Thai softness about her. She went to boarding school when I was nine.

Mum did remarry once. It wasn’t a wonderful situation. After that, I don’t remember her having many boyfriends. I would have loved that for her – to have someone. But she didn’t pine for what wasn’t to be – she dealt with life and kept moving.

I remember seeing improv [improvisational theatre] for the first time while studying for an arts degree in Sydney. Mum said if that’s something you want to do, then do it, but warned it was a hard road. She got me to meet a friend of hers, a producer who gave me advice.

I had a celebrity crush on actress Toni Pearen. She would come into the video shop I worked at. She didn’t notice the 16-year-old, six-foot-four kid with pimples.