Mumbai: He refuses to stick to the ordinary 9 to 5 schedule. But then, he can make you laugh your hearts out day in and day out, any time, anywhere.

Sunil Pal is one of those special people with a gift to make people laugh. But he hasn't really laughed all the way up in his own life.

His is a journey from small town Nagpur to the Tinsel Town of Mumbai to carve a niche for himself in an art form that was all a laughing matter. But Sunil of the Great Indian Laughter Challenge fame has changed all that.

In the last 20 weeks since his rise to stardom, he has made everybody chuckle deeply with satisfaction each time he has pulled a fast one on a politician.

Sunil landed in Mumbai in 1995, and thus began his struggle for fame. Along a path less traveled, stand-up comedy was just a fringe benefit on TV back then.

"I reached Mumbai in 1995, started on the footpath, worked as a tea stall helper, met a few good, a few bad men. But then, the good people helped me out, eventually," recalls Sunil.

But his fame could be short-lived or so believe those who have been there and done that, including even Shekhar Suman, who understands the ruthless logic of reality shows and how hard reality can bite.

“It’s like instant coffee. You come one fine day and overnight you are a star," Shekhar explains.

Sunil Pal's is a story of a simple man with a knack to look at the funnier side of life. He strutted along hoping to find takers for an art that brought on a twitch to the lips. But with competition like Raju Shrivastav and Ehsaan Qureshi, the going is only getting tougher.

With no godfathers for support and the demand from the viewers growing for something different each time, Sunil has his homework marked out. But for all aspirants and fans, this man sure has tickled a lot more than just a funny bone.