Profiles

Most people know comedian Danny Wallace for his book 'Yes Man' - the surprising story of his decision to agree to everything anyone asks of him.

And if you don't yet know him, you soon will - the adventure is soon to be released as a top feature film featuring Jim Carey.

The School Boy

It's a long way from Danny's roots as a Leicestershire schoolboy, but his younger self has not been erased from his mind - far from it.

Danny has recently published a new book that charts his journey from the initially idea of seeking out old friends, to fulfilling the trip!

BBC Leicester's Chris Baxter spoke to Danny about his journey from Loughborough to Hollywood...

The hunt came to Leicestershire after Danny found an old notebook from his school days with classmates numbers in.

He attended Holywell Primary School and Loughborough Grammar School in the county.

Door Knocking

Danny said he pretty much just turned up on his old school friends' doorsteps, knocked on the door and said:

"'Hello it's me, you last saw me in McDonald's in Loughborough in 1988. Are you coming out to play?' And amazingly they were."

Despite having not seem them for years and years the connection between the old friends was easily rebuilt and memories were ignited:

"You spend maybe five minutes making pleasantries and talking about life as it is and then one of you will say, 'Do you remember we used to read comics under that tree?' or whatever, and bang, that's it for the next three hours.

"That's all you talk about, and you almost can't speak quickly enough, you can't share the memories enough."

Danny says it felt like a bargain two-for-one deal - not only was he catching up with childhood mates he was forging new friendships with their adult forms!

Famous Life

Although some had realised that Danny was now famous, some hadn't associated the guy with glasses on television with the Daniel Wallace from school who was about three feet shorter.

And it seems Danny isn't the only one who leads an interesting adult life; one of his friends spends his spare time working on time travel, whereas another is essentially third in line to the throne of Fiji!

Life as a celebrity has led to a few funny stories, one of which involves Danny accidentally being photographed as a BAFTA winner.

He thought it was a comedy photograph stall and didn't realise until he was informed he couldn't pick up the prints; instead they were being sent to the press!