In 1993, Danny ‘Slim’ Gray was thrust onto the Hackney Empire stage armed only with a few gags and some dutch (and dutchie) courage. He’d never done stand-up before, he didn’t have a set – the only people he’d made laugh before were his friends and family.

“It was like being thrown in the deep end. Really, right in the middle of the ocean!

“My friend, Curtis Walker, was putting on a show and it was a sell out. Massive audience,“ remembers Slim. “He just grabbed me in the interval and it was like: ’you’re funny – I’m putting you on after the break’.

“I was pretty scared. So I had a brandy or two and a Bob Marley special out back.

“I told a joke and got a laugh. But when I got my first laugh I was so happy, my mind was doing cartwheels, I was celebrating in my head. I didn’t think that I needed the next joke ready – and the laughs died down.“

“So I just told the truth, that I’d had one too many brandys, and got another laugh.“

Some 18 years later, Slim returns to the venue that “feels like home” with his latest one-man show Slim In Wonderland.

This time round he’s a pro. He’s toured the world, won a string of awards and was voted by his black British comic peers as their favourite comedian. There’s one lady though, that’s still not quite so sure.

“My mum’s very old school. You have to have a proper job with her. It’s taken years to convince her that I’m a comedian. It’s not until one of her friends said: ’Oh I’ve seen a poster of your boy’ or ’I saw your boy on this’ that she believes it.“

It’s thanks to his mum’s desire for Slim to have a ’real job’ that he’s spent 15 years as a bus driver.

“You can’t joke with the passengers. You shouldn’t even smile,“ reveals Slim. “You’ve got to be one of those ones that just nods, then you don’t get no trouble see? If your joking around, people will try all kinds of funny stuff – there’s some secret bus driving psychology right there. I used to get told off for being too smiley!“

His Jamaican parents, bus passengers and south London upbringing is a rich source of material for Slim. But his observations are understood by all age groups and nationalities. Well, most of the time.

In 2005, Slim became the first black UK comic to play the world renowned Hollywood Comedy Store.

“Playing that show was nerve- wracking but I’d had a little practise,“ explains Slim. “I’d done a lot of US army bases in Europe. A lot of the American soldiers come from the Deep South. They talk real slow down there and [speaking in a Mississippi drawl] draaag ooout the vooowels.

“Me and you are talking like this as though it’s normal speed. To them the words are coming out like an uzi. They liked it but they just couldn’t catch all of it.

“Over there you have to calm it down. And talk proper English like you were in a job interview. They’ve seen Snatch but only with the subtitles on.“

Following the two-date show at the Empire, Slim is going to put his feet up for a week before planning his next visit to the US, including his first gig in New York.

“But there’s nothing like a home crowd,“ he explains. “I’ll invite my mum – maybe she’ll believe me now.“

Slim In Wonderland is at the Hackney Empire on February 5 and 6 at 8pm. Details: 020 8985 2424