Why men’s mental health can be a laughing matter

Jest For Men is a seven-week course run by Angie Belcher, an award winning comedian, scriptwriter, poet and educator. She’s been exploring the ways stand up comedy can help men open up about their mental health for some time and firmly believes it’s a great way for men to address and discuss difficult thoughts they might otherwise keep to themselves.

The course is currently running at an Exeter venue called The Bootlegger thanks to AlrightMate? CIC, a National Lottery-funded project that uses the arts as a way of normalising conversations about male mental health.

The men meeting at The Bootlegger once a week are each creating a 5-minute comedy set that they’ll perform – if they choose to do so – in front of an audience at an open mic session on 17th November.

The eight participants are having a great time, of course, but there is a more serious side to the programme. Angie said, “Comedy gives us a way of looking at events in a new way as you might do in therapy. It’s a way of looking at things that were previously traumatic through a comedy lens and processing it in a new way.”

Most men are apprehensive when they first attend a Jest For Men session. But nerves quickly subside as they build trust in Angie and each other.

Taking part in the final performance is optional, but Angie reckons most, if not all, of the men will get behind the mic. She said, “The more I say ‘you don’t have to do the show’, the more they want to. My experience is that three-quarters of the way through the course they really start enjoying the process. And I always say ‘what’s the point of building a boat and not putting it on the sea’?”

Turning life’s challenges into punchlines is a powerful form of therapy. Angie said, “The thing about stand up comedy is that it doesn’t work with all the nice lovely parts of your life. It only works with the more difficult things.”

Cally Hayes, director of AlrightMate? CIC, said Jest For Men is a perfect way to use creativity to engage men in conversation about their mental wellbeing. That’s a pressing concern as suicide remains the biggest cause of death in men under the age of 50.

Cally said, “We know that men are generally not so good in taking up support for physical and mental health and we’re always looking for things that help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.”

When Cally read an article in The Guardian about Angie and her Comedy on Referral course she was determined to bring the course to Exeter. She said, “We’ve taken a similar approach to Angie, offering events that say ‘come and have some fun and learn something new’. Comedy is a great way to build confidence and a lot of people and men in particular, perhaps, use comedy as a way of expressing themselves.”

The support of funding made possible by National Lottery players has been crucial to getting Jest For Men up and running in Exeter. Cally said, “We couldn’t have done it without the funding. The course is heavily subsidised and particularly here in Devon there’s a limit on what you can charge for a comedy event or a course.

“We run a lot of one-off events, but this comedy course has given us the opportunity to see if men develop more sustainable bonds when they’re meeting over six or seven weeks.”

Which begs the question: Can anyone be funny? Angie said, “Some people have funny bones, but with the right guidance and tuition anyone can be funny. It’s about finding out what kind of stand up comedian they are.”

14th November 2024