JUSTIN Moorhouse has carved a successful career out of making people chuckle.

Now the former salesman is bringing laughs closer to people’s homes with a recently launched venture in Prestwich.

Last month saw the first Laugh Local at Heaton Park Sports and Social Bar, Bury Old Road, a regular comedy night without the need to travel into the city centre.

It is the latest venture in a career spanning almost 15 years which has seen him star in TV programmes including Phoenix Nights, film Looking For Eric and present a host of radio shows.

He was working, rather unsuccessfully, as a salesman when he decided to contact the Frog and Bucket, Manchester, and landed a stand-up spot at the age of 29.

Speaking of his sales job, he said: “I was terrible. I look back on it and I’m actually frightened that if I hadn’t done stand-up comedy, I don’t know what I would’ve done.

“I was very good at getting the (sales) jobs but, when it came to it, I didn’t love it and wasn’t very good at it.

“When I first started out in comedy, it was all brand new so if I was doing things wrong, I didn’t know.

“I was on the road all the time and I didn’t ever stop and say, ‘how’s it going?’ “I worked really hard at it. The more I had fun, the harder I worked, the better I got and the more work I got.

“I had a couple of little breaks and got lucky in the early days, getting the part in Phoenix Nights and I won North West Comedian of the Year and those things helped me.

“Anybody can do it. It doesn’t matter if you’re young, old, thin, fat, short or tall. Our business is completely open to anyone that can do it.

“Obviously some people are better than others.”

As well as Laugh Local, he is currently on tour with his Justin Time show which calls in at a number of North West towns including Middleton tomorrow (Friday) and Bolton on December 12.

The Manchester-born comic said: “This is the extension due to popular demand.

“I’m looking forward to getting into places we couldn’t get into last time.

“Audiences, they loved it. If you did 35 dates and were met with stony silence, you wouldn’t go back out again.

“It went really well. I think I’m better than I’ve ever been at stand-up, at the moment.”

As well as TV and radio, Justin has also appeared on stage at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in plays Zack and Two, for which he received a Manchester Theatre Awards nomination, but says the comedy stage is where he feels most at home.

He said: “Stand-up is what I love the most. It’s completely instant. You get that feeling straight away. It’s what I am.

“Everything else I do is because of that. I get the chance to do other things because I’m a stand-up. It validates me.” Laugh Local has been launched in Prestwich following its successful ongoing tenure at Chorlton Irish Club, off the back of the Bop Local club nights.

The comedy and music nights give people the chance to enjoy a night out without having to travel too far or fork out for a taxi and overpriced drinks.

n The next Laugh Local in Prestwich is set to take place on Friday, December 13, follow @laughlocal on Twitter for updates.