Taking to the stage for his very first stand-up gig, Paddy McDonnell didn't expect for his name to soon be known globally.
The West Belfast man worked collecting coal money and then glasses in a local bar and also done the paper rounds in his area before becoming involved in the building trade. His father worked as a roofer, with Paddy going on to become a joiner.
Paddy then took up a job as a doorman, where he had his finger bitten off, an incident which sent him into a "dark place". His wife booked them to go to the Pavilion Open Mic Night where he performed - those seven minutes on stage changed his life.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, he said: "In 2007, me and my wife were getting married and I took on a job as a doorman. While working there, I got my finger bitten off. It set me into depression and I went into a dark place. It took four years for it to go to court and it was really affecting me.
"I started being a black taxi driver then and my wife was trying to get me out of that place, because I wasn't the person I was before. Someone told her to take me to a comedy show, so she searched it online and the Pavilion Open Mic came up.
"It coincided with the first day of the court case, so it was taking my mind off it all. We went anyway, and they called me up on stage and I did seven minutes.
"The guy there asked me if I had ever done that before and I said no. He said 'you need to do that again, you are very talented'. It was nothing prepared, I just stood up and talked to people. I told them about my kids and the court case. I got this feeling of release when I was on stage. It was like therapy."
Paddy says from this first gig, he soon became hooked on it. But it was after getting called to perform at Féile an Phobail to support Des Bishop, where Paddy McDonnell's talent was projected onto a larger scale, with people from all walks of life becoming fans of his work.
"That was the first time that people in West Belfast got to see me do comedy," he added.
"It sort of just developed from there. It was never a full time job for me, but a few videos then went out of me with Shane Todd and it took off. People think I came out of Covid, as an overnight success, nobody sees the 12 years of putting the work in and crafting.
"Now when people see me they are surprised. The other week when Kevin Bridges showed up to watch me in the Empire, I was thinking about what I was doing for the first time in a long time.
"Once I was on stage I was dead on but that was the first time in a long time where I got nervous."
Paddy speaks often of his pride for his community, opening up during his sets on how his upbringing made him the man he is today.
"I am very proud of coming from West Belfast, and it does get a bad rep but I feel growing up and going through what I went through, I can go anywhere in the world.
"To headline Féile the last two years has been amazing. I think it has opened up a lot more - the Waterfront Hall last week, I know a lot of people from West Belfast who went there to watch me. I think I done them proud.
"That was the first time I had got emotional on stage. I seen Billy Connolly there 15 years ago, and halfway through the set I was taken back, proud and humble.
"The comedy scene locally has took off. I think Covid came and it made us all realise we needed to work together and there was no real rivalry.
"Any of the comedy scenes I have been in around the world, there is that rivalry. But there is enough for everyone. I have my own plans to go to Canada, Australia and America.
"I want to try and be the biggest comedian in Ireland. That is the plan. A lot of people in the South don't know who I am, so I want to get my name out."
Encouraging those who have an interest in the comedy world, Paddy says his advice would be "to just do it".
He added: "If you feel you want to do it, try it once. It doesn't hurt and it doesn't cost anything.
"Just look up an open mic, and there are lots here. The Pavilion is the place for people to go. If you think you are funny and have a story to tell, [go for it]."
For more information on Paddy's upcoming shows visit his page here.
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