In his previous calling as a salesman, stand-up comic Junior Simpson would have never believed that a routine trip to the toilet would launch his career in comedy.
'I went along to a wedding with a girlfriend; she knew the bride and groom, but I didn't. The master of ceremonies got up and said: 'Does anyone else want to say anything on behalf of the bride and groom?' I had got up to go to the toilet, the guy assumed I wanted to say something, and I couldn't really say 'I don't know these people I have to go to the toilet'.
'I made some stuff up, talked about the day, and the whole place was laughing,' said Simpson from London earlier this week.
'If you asked me 5.5 years ago 'would I imagine being a stand-up comic', I would have said 'no'. I knew I could make my friends laugh, I didn't know I could translate that to an audience,' said the Luton, Bedfordshire-born comic who had to be 'hounded' into playing at a comedy club by a wedding attendee.
The comic on the bill for next week's Punchline Comedy Club has been creating a buzz on England's comedy club circuit ever since.
His television debut was on the BBC's The Real McCoy in 1994, before going on to Sunday Selection, a variety show in London's Hackney Empire theatre, BBC's The Stand Up Show and Channel 5's Comedy Store. This year he will perform for the third time at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a three-week celebration of theatre, comedy, dance and music.
In addition, the 'over 21, under 99'-year-old comic hosts a game show, In The Dark, on Channel 5. The programme has three couples performing a variety of everyday tasks in total darkness. Special cameras allow the studio audience to witness the contestants doing things such as putting make-up on their partner, swapping clothes or bandaging their partner's head.