I spend a lot of time in parts picking up poo, so my girlfriend got me a dog to make it less weird.

This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I took an East London stroll with comedian Mark Simmons.

Mark is pretty famed for his exceptional one-liners.

In fact, so much so he's managed to nab the prestigious joke of the

Fringe Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He's also appeared on shows like Mock the Week and

supported major comics like Rob Beckett, Sean Walsh and Rob Bryden on tour. So it was a bit of a

miserable rainy day when we met up. And I was having to juggle lots of things like umbrellas, a wet

shih Tzu who was refusing to walk, my coffee, my handbag. So it told me a lot about Mark

that he insisted on carrying my handbag the entire time to lighten my load. Any man who's that

chivalrous slash comfortable with his masculinity instantly gets my vote.

So I knew I was going to love him. And we had the best chat about everything from Mark's childhood

growing up in Canterbury to his time spent working in a gym and the random decision he made

one night to try his hand at stand-up, which ended up changing his

life. We also chatted about our mutual friend comedian Gareth Richards, who really tragically

lost his life three years ago. And even though I ended up getting a bit emotional, it was so

lovely getting to remember Gareth with someone who clearly cared about him so much.

Ray and I absolutely loved our walk with Mark and I know you will too.

If you want to go see him live, he's on tour with Jess to impress.

Go to marksimmons.co.uk to book your tickets.

And you can also listen to his podcast jokes with Mark Simmons.

I'll stop talking now and hand over to the brilliant man himself.

Here's Mark and Ray Ray.

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