Interactive session 3: • John Mooney, Sunderland University and Sunderland City Council

1. Use of comedy to enhance
public health messages
Part of Lighting the Fuse!
John Mooney FFPH
Senior Lecturer in Public Health
University of Sunderland
Programme Lead: MSc in Public Health
Hon. Public Health Specialist (Sunderland City Council)

2. Objectives
1. To provide an overview of the
rationale and some key
techniques for deploying
comedy to good effect in public
health
2. To highlight the potential
benefits of embracing your inner
comedy writer / performer…
3. To inspire you to have a go!

3. Overview
 Rationale for using comedy in health
and public health communication…
 A few myths about comedy
 A bit about ‘Bright Club’
 Take-away lessons from Bright-Club
 A few key comedy principles
 Finding ‘the funny’
 Over to you!
- Look forward to your set!

4. Rationale for using comedy in
Public Health
 To counteract the ‘kill-joy’ image in
some key target ‘audience segments’
& ‘ginger tax’ example…
 To deal more effectively with the
‘master-persuaders’ from the
corporate World…
 To find ‘fresh perspectives’ and enrich
your wider communication activities
(including teaching, if relevant)
 But 4thly/…

5. Perhaps the most important?
I. In addition to this, if a stand up
comedian makes an audience forget
their problems by making them laugh
then they have done their job well.
II. If a comedian makes the audience
think about other
people’s problems, after making
them laugh, then he or she has not
only done a great job but has also
made a difference….
From 10 Rules of Stand Up Comedy - Part 1: James Allen
http://www.jacomedy.com/10-rules-of-stand-up-comedy---part-
1.html

6. A few myths about comedy…
 Humour writing is not a mystery!:
“humour writing can be taught and can be
demonstrated to be accessible to
everyone”
E.g. Consider the possible uses of two
round bar stool cushions – without edit or
constraint..

7. A bit about ‘Bright Club’
 Began at UCL ~ 2004-2005
 Based on academics talking about
their research in 10 minute ‘comedy
sets’
 Now has a presence in many places
across the UK (thriving in Scotland
incl. annual Edinburgh Fringe Show)
and Newcastle (The Stand Comedy
Club)
 Has core funding from Welcome Trust
and British Association for
Advancement of Science…

8. Some take home lessons about
Bright Club…
 There is no such thing as an unfunny
subject…
 With much of science, you don’t have
to look too far
 Public health has many open goals:
e.g. the Scottish diet; Alcohol Harm
Reduction Strategy for England 2004
(AHRSE..!)
 Geeks are cool! Think Dave Gorman
 Bright Club is a sympathetic audience!
 https://brightclub.wordpress.com/abou
t/

9. Three starting points – turning
research into stand-up
 Embrace your inner geek!
 The best comedy is personality driven –
especially if combined with strong
opinions
 Many useful comedy techniques useful:
- Wordplay
- Incongruity / Exaggeration
- Misdirection

10. Over to You
 Quick exercise:
 Re-write your most recent article of the
subject of your current research into the
title of a stand-up act:
 E.g. Obesity Prevention = ‘Hazardous
Waists’
 Alcohol Policies: ‘Bucking the Buckfast’
If time think of one or two key facts or
findings that are incredulous or ripe for
wordplay / exaggeration…

11. Assessment and Evaluation
 Prepare a quiz or challenge to assess
how much information participants
learned.
 Survey participants to see if they
found the training beneficial.