University of Kent: Making illness a laughing matter

A stand-up comedian who is also a lecturer at the University of Kent has launched a one-man comedy show on diabetes as part of a "practice-as-research" project. Oliver Double, a senior lecturer in drama and theatre studies, drew on personal experiences to perform his show, St Pancreas. During the show, which was recently performed in Whitstable and is now available on DVD, Dr Double talks about bringing up his diabetic sons, his own reactions to their conditions and how one of them nearly died through misdiagnosis. The show aims to examine how intense personal experience can be used as the subject of stand-up material.

www.kent.ac.uk/sdfva/drama/staff/odouble/stpancras.html.