Everyone I know has been talking about the Fyre festival documentary on Netflix, and by everybody I mean the narrow cross section of people on my Facebook timeline. The film tells the story of the festival that was supposed to take place in the Bahamas in 2017, and ended in disaster. Before watching it, the two things I knew about the festival were that it involved Ja Rule, best known for shouting next to J-Lo; and the viral tweet of the lunch provided, a polystyrene box with some bread and cheese in it. (I can relate to this. I was recently in Colombia and given a “vegan wrap”, or three slices of tomato and a lettuce leaf. I was informed that the lettuce did the work of the wrap. I’m not sure that giving the ingredients job titles changes the meal.)

I remember, when I saw that tweet, thinking how funny it was that a bunch of privileged hipsters and social-media influencers were having a dreadful time at a festival organised by demigod-level dickheads. Watching the details of how it fell apart, and how chaotic and horrendous it must have been for all those people attending, made it much, much funnier.

The main reason I found it so enjoyable was the journey of the main man behind Fyre, the snake-oil salesman supreme Billy McFarland. As the narrative unfolded, it became clear that everyone around Billy had begun to realise they were out of their depth. They tried to tell him this. Billy didn’t listen. He stayed positive; he talked about being solution- rather than problem-oriented. He visualised the festival as being amazing. And despite being positive, and goal- and solution-oriented, it was such a colossal failure that now, anyone even named Billy should have second thoughts about visiting the Bahamas.

The message of this story is clear: wishing for something really hard isn’t enough. It’s a message that I find empowering, because I am fed up with successful people telling people that they just need to want it more. They need to set targets and work harder. If they haven’t got it yet, they need to be more goal-oriented. I am all for people trying to move beyond their circumstances, but the illusion that this will guarantee you your wildest dreams is a lie to keep us occupied as we head towards the apocalypse.

My Facebook timeline is full of motivational quotes like, “You wouldn’t give up on cats, so why give up on your dreams?” and “Life is a bakery, so start making baguettes”, and I think it’s irresponsible. You are saying to people, “It’s your fault you are unhappy.” All these people who tell you about how they willed their success into reality are beneficiaries of luck. I would not have succeeded as a comedian had I not had some hugely lucky breaks.

I owe much of my success to Seann Walsh. He kept recommending me for Live At The Apollo until eventually the producers offered me a gig. I owe him a lot which is why I was so glad when he told me he was doing Strictly. I only watched week one, but I assume everything went well after that.

I have long believed that success stories need a bit of balance. We only hear from people who risked it all, and found it paid off. I would like to see more coverage of people saying, “I chased my dreams and did everything I could to make it happen, and it went really badly wrong. All I have to my name is a Tony Robbins DVD and a Go Hard or Go Home poster.” For this reason, I think Billy McFarland’s sacrifice is one we should all be grateful for. He might not be the Jesus we want, but he is the one we deserve.