Mens Comedy Health Check

*****

Men’s Comedy Health Check
12th June 2013
Bernie Grant Arts Centre
London N15

They say laughter is the best medicine and anyone feeling ill would have felt a whole lot better if they had attended The Men’s Health Check Comedy night at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre.

Your muscles and lungs will not have had a work out, but your ribs might have been hurting and you might have found yourself slightly out of breath from all the laughing you will have been doing.

That would have been thanks to the great work of the comedians vying to prove emphatically that laughter is the best medicine.

Each comedian had their own health theme to work a comedy routine around.

Curtis Walker

First up was Curtis Walker. He entertainingly  took the mick out of his weight and joked about his diet.

Notwithstanding the belly laughs, no pun intended,  his theme was all about how we can reduce and/or prevent obesity. He made the point that a good healthy diet was important. In particular one third of the meal on our dinner plates should be salad. The more colours on our plates, or should I say palates, the healthier the meal. And I don’t think he meant sweets either.

Curtis has previously fronted campaigns for organ donation, something sadly which African Caribbean people continue to be extremely under represented in. This basically means that should someone from this community requirement an organ donation or even a bone marrow transplant, they are far less likely to find a genetic match. In fact they only have a 1:56 chance v 1:4 chance if they were white.

Eddie Nestor

Eddie Nestor was a superb host. He compered with great humour, whilst sticking to the theme. This is un-surprising seeing as he has recently battled through the ordeal of x cancer.

To see him on stage looking fit and well was testimony to his courage and determination. He too is very careful nowadays to maintain a healthy diet and exercise routine in order to retain good health and well being.

Tony Hendriks

It was great to see Tony Hendriks. I’d not seen him for a while and it was lovely hearing that lilting, Jamaican accent of his again. He gave a hilarious performance that had everyone falling about. His theme was prostate cancer and he was highly effective in getting across the importance of getting yourself checked out. Especially if you are experiencing any aches and pains or changes “downstairs”. Men are often reluctant too and via his sketch with himself and a Nurse he got the message across loud and clear, especially when he said ignoring the warning signs could negatively affect your sex life.

Felicity Ethnic

Continuing the theme of prostate cancer was Felicity Ethnic, Best Female Comedienne The Black Comedy Awards 2012 and defending champion for the forthcoming 2013 awards.

Via the guise of Mrs Simmit, the Cleaner, she too urged gentlemen to check themselves out. To go see the Doctor no matter how trivial the matter may seem. Her Father died of prostate cancer. He didn’t have to as it’s one of the most treatable cancers if detected and treated early enough. He was too proud and stubborn to and paid the ultimate price with his very own life. It doesn’t have to be that way for you and your loved ones.

Dr Lez Henry

Dr Henry via an educational and fascinating PowerPoint presentation got the message across clearly regarding the importance of what we eat and its impact on our health and well being.

Victor Romero Evans

Victor came on to the stage, shirt undone, looking rather worse for wear. He delivered a funny, but impactful sketch on the perils of drinking too much.

This was the first event of its kind put on by organiser Dr Vanessa Bogle. It was kindly supported by Tottenham Hotspur Foundation and the NHS. Held during National Mens Health Week it was especially appropriate, although ironically this sold out event seemed to comprise 70% women. If it were a woman’s health event you would not find 70% men in attendance. That’s a real shame and there is no real logic to it. I can only assume men are not taking as great an interest in their own health as they should be. In fact, women seem more interested!

There is a lot of information out there online, in books and above all at your local GP’s surgery. As we get older it becomes more and more important that we monitor our health and take Health MOT’s periodically.

Men’s Comedy Health Check II took place on 2nd November 2013. You can read the review here