Comics get cash to push health message

Comics John Ryan and Gary O'Donnell have written an hour-long show as part of a drive to get men to go to the doctor.

The pair have received public cash to create the show for next year's Leicester Comedy Festival, after which it will tour the Midlands.

O'Donnell and Ryan were given the brief to use jokes and anecdotes to affress the question 'Why do men hate going to the doctor?' under the Hurt Until It Laughs project.

Project coordinator Rebecca Wooster said: "This show has been brought about by a need to encourage men to consider their health and take health tests. But above all it's very funny and we hope that this will make it highly effective.

"Neither comedian purports to be the picture of health nor are they approaching this with a preachy attitude."

Ryan added: "My comedy is about going outside of my comfort zones. It would be easier for me to plod around the club circuit, but this project has stimulated my creative streak.

"It was Leicester Comedy Festival that launched me into comedy, through the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Competition. I am excited to be working with them again, and it's great to be working with Gary O'Donnell, one of the many hidden comic gems working outside of London"

The show will be launched at Leicester's Phoenix Arts on February 6. It has been financed by a range of organisations, including the Unison East Midlands trade union.

Published: 16 Nov 2003