I went back a couple of times to the creative director at the advertising agency where I had done work experience, but he wasn't very dazzled by my ideas, so I threw in advertising and just amused myself by writing kids' stories and reading War and Peace. Then I wrote my best man speech for my brother Al's wedding and threw in a few jokes, including some prop comedy - for example I spoke about how I used to wear earmuffs while sleeping to combat Al's snoring, then I presented the bride, Rebecca, with a pair of earmuffs and said, "I'm passing them on." My speech got some good laughs, and afterwards Rebecca's uncle said something to me that would change my life forever. He said I should be a stand-up comedian. I forgot neither what he said that night, nor the way I felt from connecting with the audience, so a few months later I phoned the comedy club to ask if I could go on stage. They accepted me for a six-minute spot in Raw Comedy on a Monday night at the Classic. I had already written a little bit of material, but having that deadline made me write a whole lot more. On the night of my first ever comedy show (and, incidentally, the first time I had ever been to a live stand up comedy show) I had a lot of support from friends and family, and I had a great gig - enough to make me want to come back. As I walked out the door the manager, Scott, grabbed me and asked if I would like to come back to do another show, to which I said yes. My next gig was on a Monday night two weeks later.