Dapper Laughs has praised \'The Inbetweeners\' star David Schaal for helping him launch his acting career.
The outspoken comedian recently starred with the 56-year-old actor - who famously played Jay Cartwright\'s dad Terry in the hit E4 sitcom - in London theatre show \'Time\', which comes six years after his controversial programme \'Dapper Laughs: On The Pull\' was cancelled along with a planned 2014 UK tour.
Dapper admits it was fantastic to work alongside David because \'The Office\' star was so willing to share his years of experience with him.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "It\'s crazy really, David\'s helped me a lot because he\'s such a skilled actor.
"He\'s helped me tap into the bad things that\'s happened in my life, like using my father passing away and the fact that I\'ve got kids. You tap into that sort of stuff in order to bring the emotions you need.
"It\'s crazy, he has a very powerful presence on stage. It\'s just something that I needed after everything. To get recognised for something like this it just feels like a fresh start for me."
The 46-year-old comic - whose real name is Daniel O\'Reilly - was delighted to get to grips with a different form of entertainment for the crime story, which ran earlier this month at the Tristan Bates Theatre in London.
He added: "When I was in college I loved doing Arts and Musical Theatre. I\'ve always been an avid actor, even when I turned into a comedian I did a lot of auditions when I was younger.
"I did a lot of theatre, like amateur theatre when I was younger. With this, I had to audition for the part and then it was put together. It\'s by a play writer that I know, he does a lot of working-class style.
"It\'s a gritty, emotional rollercoaster. It\'s not what I\'ve been doing in regards to comedy or characterised comedy like Dapper Laughs. I did the audition, got the part, been doing rehearsals and it opens Monday - it\'s mad."
Up next, the former \'Celebrity Big Brother\' star\'s new play \'Dying To Be Funny\', which he wrote about his own experiences with mental health, has found a theatre and will open later in 2020.
Speaking about the project, he said: "It\'s based around my struggles with mental health and being close to considering suicide after my father died and before becoming a dad. It\'s quite a deep play. It\'s written around my life.
"You think you\'re watching a stand-up comedy but it\'s quite gritty and hard. Then towards the end you realise you\'ve actually been watching what is a suicide note. It sounds depressing and touches on something I\'m passionate about which is mental health."
