They have all been the target of Mark Humphries sardonic wit.

The 32-year-old comedian, who is also now hosting Network Ten’s new quiz show Pointless, is best known for lampooning politicians and even his native north shore on SBS Viceland’s news show, The Feed.

Skits like Once Upon a Time in Mosman and Barabbas Loins — who strikes an uncanny resemblance to the former deputy Prime Minister — have propelled Humphries into the spotlight and sealed his place as one of Australia’s emerging satirists.

But two years ago, the Killara local took his first tentative steps into the commercial world when he was watching re-runs of the British quiz show, Pointless and tweeted out an interest in hosting an Australian version.

“It was so different. It wasn’t just about knowing the right answer, it was about thinking strategically about what answers other people would get,” he told the North Shore Times.

“I was watching it and I thought I’d love to see it with Australian categories.”

When Network Ten confirmed they had cancelled Family Feud and purchased the rights to the production, Humphries saw an opportunity and tweeted that his offer still stood.

“I didn’t think anything would come of it,” he said.

“I just thought this will never happen. They’d be crazy to hire some nobody from SBS. I’d like to think I developed some kind of a following but it’s very niche.”

But the tweet caught the attention of producers and three months later the production company Endemol Shine, best known for Gogglebox and MasterChef for Network Ten, were on the line asking if he was joking.

“I said I was deadly serious,” he said but conceded he never thought he had a stake in the game. He now appears as one of two hosts on the show alongside Dr Andrew Rochard.

“I’m the one on the left that no one knows,” he said.

Beyond the glitz and glamour of commercial television, he is not the TV star in the making you would expect. On air he appears in control and confident, but in person he is self-effacing.

In a Gordon cafe, he described his life as very different to that of other commercial TV stars.

In fact, instead of red carpets and bright lights, he confessed to being “a recluse”, preferring to spend most time at home in Killara watching re-runs of The Golden Girls with Russian born wife, Yulia and their 19-month-old son, Ted.

But there are few topics safe from his sledgehammer wit, including his own north shore insularity.

A combination of nostalgia and fear keep him from venturing across the bridge very often, he says.

A visit to Newtown only confirmed his instincts to stay northside

“The first time I went to Newtown, I got off at the station and there was a dog barking because its owner was being arrested,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.

“I immediately thought ‘this isn’t my area’.

“I had just bought a new jacket that I was really excited about. It was leather and I was so excited to wear it.

“As I was walking down King St, a car drove past and someone shouted out ‘nice jacket homo.’ I thought ‘I’m never crossing the bridge again’.”

Humphries, who grew up in Crows Nest, has all the trappings of a north shore cliche — he’s clean cut, wears chinos and has a penchant for crisp, buttoned-up blue shirts. Is that really him or is it a character?

“I look like someone who should have been a private school boy,” he said, before stressing that he attended Neutral Bay Primary and North Sydney Boys High.

In high school, he said he and a friend would watch Tonight with Micallef on VHS during lunch time while the other kids played handball “and saw sunlight”.

Upon graduating with excellent results which put him on the NSW HSC merit list, Humphries parents urged him to pursue a safer career than TV.

“My father Alan knew it was an unstable path … he was a weatherman on the ABC for years,” he said.

He decided to study advertising and French at UTS where, he says, he felt pressured to conform to the “serious creativity” of the marketing industry rather than the “fanciful” nature of comedy.

He sought out fellow jokers in niche clubs like The Disco Society where he was president.

But he attributes spending a year abroad in Bordeaux, France at the age of 21 as a game changer.

There, he performed in theatre shows which gave him the chance to break out of his shell.

“I did things I’d love to do here but I was too self-conscious. I felt really liberated in France,” he said.

It was during this time that he met his Russian born wife, Yulia who was also on an exchange program.

“I didn’t speak Russian, she didn’t speak English but we spoke the language of French,” he said with a wry smile.

In the years that followed, Humphries did brief stints in retail working in a designer homeware store and Blockbuster, wondering if a career in comedy would ever materialise.

A series of daylight robberies helped him focus his mind.

“I had three-armed hold ups and it really affected me and I had to leave the job. They were definitely from out of town. Newtown accents,” he quipped.

A chance internship led to a paid gig on ABC 2’s The Roast for three years. The cast at the time were considered to be a mixed bag of unknown writers and presenters and it was a baptism of fire for Humphries, producing daily written content and skits with co-writer Evan Williams until both moved to SBS.

“I realised we had very similar ideas about satire and comedy. It’s a relationship that works.”

While his cartoonish characters may suggest otherwise, Humphries says he’s agnostic when it comes to politics. His grandfather Edward Harrison Humphries represented the Liberal Party in NSW state parliament in the 60s and 70s.

He says when it comes to targeting politicians, he is drawn to those characters who best serve the gag.

“I know it seems like I do a lot of anti-LNP comedy,” he explained. “But the Liberal Party has been in government for the vast majority that I’ve been doing satire. There just aren’t enough weirdos yet in the Labor Party. The conservative side of politics just seems to attract more characters.”

Although not a ratings powerhouse, Humphries described SBS’s The Feed as “off Broadway”, adding, “you can take risks because what’s the worst that can happen? There’s no spotlight shining on you.”

That looks set to change after his move to commercial TV.

Right now he is taking stock of the creative and professional gamble he has taken, going from his fringe following of SBS to a prime time audience on Ten.

“I really admire people who go for something even if they do fail, I’d rather that than safe choices,” he said.