NHS Comedy Initiative

GPs are being encouraged to send them on a six-week course, where they will learn to write jokes and perform stand-up routines. A pilot scheme is being launched in Bristol this month, designed to help people suffering from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress 'see the funny side' of their predicament. The courses are being run by comics including Angie Belcher, who is described as Comedian-in-Residence at Bristol University. She sounds a laugh a minute. (Somehow I didn't expect the NHS would be hiring Chubby Brown or Jim Davidson to teach 'vulnerable' individuals how to tell jokes.)