Stand-up comedy: finding the right path

10 years ago, I sold everything I owned and moved from the Isle of Man to Manchester. I wanted to follow my life long dream of becoming a stand-up comedian.

Me and my new comedian friends hit it hard for a few years, travelling all over the UK doing any gig we could. Not easy when you're working a 9-6 office job at the same time - but it's what you need to do to make it work.

We did an Edinburgh run together in 2015 - a show where we did 20 minutes each.

We learned a lot and felt like we were really moving forward. But then, the next couple of years saw everyone I knew and got close to in comedy fall away and quit.

It became very difficult to keep doing stand-up on my own without my core comedian friends. But I kept going. Soon I realised that I wasn't enjoying the gigs as much, and noticed my mental health had declined.

I took some time away from it, only gigging every now and then, while working on myself physically and mentally.

I then returned to comedy. Suddenly, I was enjoying it again: revelling in every gig and every new joke I wrote.

I also noticed some people I knew that kept going were further ahead than me, but seemed weighed down by the same mindset I had before I took a break and reset. They had all this great stuff, all this progression, but they weren't happy with anything. They weren't able to enjoy what they had.

This is why I believe it makes sense, wherever you are on your journey, to consider the question: what do you want?

Taking some time to pause and reflect made it easier to separate the things I enjoy from the things I don't want to do. Creative jobs are hard. There is no set path. Everyone has their own path.

A friend of mine was annoyed that someone we knew was on children's TV. I asked my friend if he would ever do children's TV. He said not in a million years. So, why are you angry about somebody else getting a job you wouldn't want anyway?

That's not my friend's path.

There are so many options now. People can set up a podcast and do live shows off the back of it. You can build an audience on social media and fill out rooms with people who want to see you.

I know someone else who spent years trying to gig for a specific club. When he finally got it, he said he hated it - and now wants to write 1 hour shows and not do clubs.

What I'm trying to say is: don't let your creative job twist you up. Reflect daily on what you actually want from it. If you need to take a step back then do so. It will do you the world of good.

We only have one life and it's a short one.

Friends know I'm a bit of a goth. Occasionally, I like visiting really old graveyards to read the headstones.

I like reading the headstone of someone who's been dead for 200 years, and realising that nobody knows anything about this person.

Some people think that's morbid but I find it quite freeing. Sometimes, if I'm nervous side stage, I just think about the fact that, in 200 years, no-one will care about any of this.

You are a small speck in a big universe, a fart in a jacuzzi. So don't take life too seriously.