Counsellor helps patients use laughter as medicine; Stand-up used to work out issues Getting people to laugh not easy
The Toronto Star
Fri 08 Oct 2004
Page: F6
Section: Life
Byline: Raju Mudhar
Source: Toronto Star
Get a bunch of people with mental health issues together, put them on a stage in front of an audience of 100 and watch the performers squirm.
It sounds like a bad joke, but it isn't. It's therapy.
This past Monday, a group of budding comedians entertained a crowd at the Yorkwoods Theatre. All the stand-up comedians were first timers and they've all struggled with a variety of mental health issues. The show, Stand-up for Mental Health, (www.standupformental health.com), is the brain child of David Granirer, a Vancouver-based counsellor and stand-up comedian who combines both careers to help others.
"Most comedians use their comedy to work out their issues and neuroses," says Granirer. "It sounds weird, but comedy often comes from pain and many comedians harness it. And that's what we're trying to do here."
In Vancouver, Granirer teaches a course in stand-up at Langara College and has worked at a crisis centre. Word of his success using comedy to work with former addicts and mental health patients in British Columbia spread to the Canadian Mental Health Associations in Toronto and Niagara, and the groups asked him to work with interested participants here.
"People with mental health issues are so often being told what they can't do. They're not allowed to do this or that," Granirer says. "The great thing with this program is that it shows them something that they can do. And getting up and performing in front of crowd and getting them to laugh is not an easy thing to do."
And he knows. The first time he did stand-up in front of an audience, he bombed. But the bug bit and he was hooked.
Another benefit is that finding the humour in seemingly unfunny situations - taking your meds, visiting the psychiatrist or even electro-shock therapy - helps patients see the universality of their experience. It helps them understand that others are going through the same thing. They often get hilarious reactions to their medical journeys.
The CMHA set up eight willing Toronto-area participants with Granirer. For a month, he communicated via e-mail and conference calls with them , helping them use their experiences to create jokes.
The day before the first of their two shows, Granirer arrived in Toronto to work with the comedians in a small boardroom at the Social Resource Centre on Dufferin St.
Most of the group is seated, offering advice to the person behind the mic. It's the first time many of them have met and they are running through their jokes.
Writing a joke is one thing. Telling it well is something altogether different.
"Wait for the laughter. You don't want them to miss your next joke....Emphasize that word like this," Granirer says, sitting to the side of the comedian on the makeshift stage.
"See this right here. That was my smile for the week," says Peter James, 38, who suffers from depression. He's pointing to a very complimentary note that Granirer had written on his printout of jokes.
"He's really great with positive feedback," James says of Granirer, "... but I'm always making jokes, and it has been a way for me to deal with my illness."
James says that since being involved with this program, he's constantly thinking of jokes. The night before, he got up at 2 30 a.m. to write one down. And he shows off a hardcover book he bought to write down more jokes.
The jokes are as diverse as the group of comedians. Rebecca Adele makes a joke about working at Wal-Mart. Murray MacLellan does celebrity impressions. James does a bit about palindromes and evokes a Steven Wright-ish deadpan. There's political humour and other silly jokes. And, of course, some jokes are about being crazy.
At the performance, Granirer warms up the audience.
"I'm the only counsellor who gives workshops with a cover charge and a two-drink minimum."
He then sends the comedians into the fray.
Some of them read their notes, but they acquit themselves well.
"I'll never understand joggers," says James. "Why run if you're not being chased?"
France Ewing was a hit "I went to a drop-in centre to look up some self-help resources. But everyone there was stealing things, so it was more of a help-yourself centre."
"I'm sure glad you don't hear the voices in my head," says Elena Reyes. "You might think they're funnier than I am."
"It's customary to thank your sponsors at the beginning of a speech," says Raymond Cheng. "So I'd like to thank OHIP for 20 years of medical research."
He adds later "When I first went to the doctor's, he told me I was going to live with "schizophrenia" for the rest of my life....I still haven't met her yet."
The show draws all kinds of laughs, some nervous, some kind and many heartfelt.
"Stand-up is a really hard thing to do, and it's amazing how well they all did. Their timing was amazing," says Steve Lurie, executive director of CMHA Toronto.
"It's a real stigma buster, both for the participants and the audience."
He says they plan to do it again next year. After all, one joke almost always leads to another. 'Comedy often comes from pain, and many comedians harness it'
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