Stand-up for public health: how can comedy improve our health?

Join hosts Xand and Rochelle for Episode 2 of Public Health Disrupted, the brand new podcast from UCL Health of the Public. In this month’s episode, we speak to award-winning comedian and author Laura Lexx and London-based Scottish comedian and UCL academic Dr Matt Winning, to explore how comedy and humour can be used to improve health for all. Laughter is good for your health - a good laugh can reduce stress. It can also be used as a tool to reduce the stigma of people discussing issues or raise the profile of topics to improve the health of the public. In this episode, Laura and Matt discuss their personal experiences of using comedy to address serious topics including mental health, infertility and climate change in their stand-up shows. Both comedians have created a space in the world of comedy to talk about public health issues, but what about the other way around? Is there space for comedy in public health? If there’s a question you’d like our hosts or guests to answer, please email us at [email protected] or tweet @UCLHealthPublic. New episodes will be made available monthly via the UCL Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast. Find the transcript and more information on the UCL Health of the Public website.