Michael Hart stood backstage with his heart racing, adrenaline flooding his system as he prepared for his first time on stage. He did not expect to have the courage to tell jokes to a room full of strangers, but he stepped forward anyway. He stumbled over his words at the start, freezing for a moment, but the first laugh from the crowd washed away his nerves. He felt a wave of elation that made the daunting prospect of performing worthwhile.
Hart is one of several people who have struggled with mental ill-health and are now trying stand-up comedy to build self-belief. They are part of the Finding Our Funny workshops run by the charity Inspire. The group is turning their personal experiences into comedy material and performing three gigs across Northern Ireland this month in Enniskillen, Londonderry, and Belfast.
Overcoming fear on stage
Hart has sought help for his mental health over the past few years and has struggled with his confidence. He admitted that throwing himself into stand-up was a scary challenge, but he embraced it. He recalled asking himself what the worst possible outcome could be. He stuttered at the beginning and froze, but he recovered and kept his composure. He described the experience as a joy and felt he handled the pressure well.
Carla Sloan had never imagined trying stand-up until she joined the program. She has dealt with mental health issues for most of her adult life and had taken courses on emotional resilience, but this was different. On the first day, she drove to the car park and decided she could not do it. She turned the car around and drove away, but then she thought she might as well go in to see what the workshop was about.
Sloan, a mother of teenagers, bases her jokes on her real-life experiences raising them. She jokes about the fun of parenting teenage girls and the trouble they get into. The experience has significantly boosted her self-esteem. She said she learned not to underestimate herself, a habit she had developed over the years. She acknowledged that she might need to take things slower than others, but she now believes she can still achieve her goals.
Mentoring and building resilience
Tim McGarry, a veteran of the Northern Ireland comedy scene, served as a mentor for the group. He is best known for playing Da in the long-running BBC sitcom Give My Head Peace. McGarry shared his tricks of the trade, focusing on comic timing and how to handle a crowd. He sat down with the participants and asked them what makes them laugh and what funny things happen in their lives.
Most of the participants wrote their own material, and McGarry only tweaked it slightly. He noted that while some techniques can be taught, much of his work involved building their self-belief. Getting out of their comfort zone and taking that first step onto the stage is the hardest part, but the payoff is significant. He said there is no better feeling than coming off stage and knowing he made people laugh. Looking back at his videos, he was surprised by how well he did, and his family is very proud of him. He said his goal is to get back into work, and the workshop has raised his confidence even more.
Kerry Anthony, the chief executive of Inspire, said the project is very different from the charity’s usual work. Inspire typically helps people dealing with mental ill-health, homelessness, or addiction. Anthony said that talking about heavy topics through humor has been wonderful for those in the stand-up workshops. She noted that people who use their services have worked with them over the years to use their voice around serious issues. This project allowed them to use their voice in a totally different way. She emphasized that comedy is not a treatment for mental ill-health, but it is important for everybody.
Source: BBC
