I'd always written rhymes but I was scared to share them. They stayed on paper or in my head, until I started going to watch battles and eventually thought to myself, "I'm definitely as good as some of these guys, and maybe even better than them".

I never gave up rapping - it gave up on me. There was no industry and no appetite for UK rap back then and I had a daughter to feed. I couldn't keep doing something full time that didn't pay the bills.

My shows will always be inspired by hip hop culture and my upbringing within it.

I'd always written rhymes but I was scared to share them. They stayed on paper or in my head, until I started going to watch battles and eventually thought to myself, "I'm definitely as good as some of these guys, and maybe even better than them".

With this kind of camera-phone madness we have got, moments are diluted into self-contained edited experiences.

Standup is tough; if you are going through a hard period in your life, it is very hard to get up in front of people and be the happy guy in the room.

You really come to life on stage but outside - this is a bit of a sad clown cliché - there is that element of loneliness you get from travelling and being on the road. Stand-ups can bring a lot of that to a dramatic role and make it work for them.