Projects
Comedy & Mental Health Mentoring
Offering mentorship to comedians preparing for Edinburgh Fringe 2026 to consider the impact of using personal mental health and/or traumatic material in their work. See more details here: https://www.comedy.co.uk/pro/opportunities/476/
Trauma Informed Comedy
The perfect blend between my professional work and my comedy writing. Working in a trauma informed way overlaps with all the qualities of a good stand up comedian; authenticity, trust and connection.
I have delivered* stand up comedy workshops in Stirling as part of Create and Converge, a social prescribing project funded by Creative Scotland. While there focus was never directly on mental health, the laughter and nonsense involved across both groups was undeniably positive.
I've adored being part of this project. Find out more here: https://www.macrobertartscentre.org/get-involved/createandconverge
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*With massive thanks to Viv Gee who kept it funny!
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I also delivered a workshop with Health in Mind and Fringe Connect about Trauma informed comedy for performers at Edinburgh Fringe 2025. I'd be very happy to deliver this again for folk interested in being authentic without traumatising their audiences.
PTSD recovery and comedy
My academic work focuses on PTSD and Complex PTSD interventions and how people access therapy.
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As part of Carabet of Dangerous Ideas (now The Provocateurs) at Edinburgh Fringe 2024, I spoke about the overlap between treatment for PTSD and comedy writing, heavily referencing the Titanic. This led to a full show at Glasgow International Comedy Festival in March 2025.
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As of Oct 2025 I am editing my recently written draft of a lighthearted guide to recovery from PTSD. Watch this space for more updates.
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How to Therapy
Another strand of my research is understanding what gets in the way of attending and staying in therapy. Comedically, Bad Therapy with The Provocateurs at Ed Fringe in 2025 addressed the negative effects of therapy, using some questionable vinyl albums! I also took part in Robyn Perkins Shrink Wrapped and shared the stage with many amazing comedians, who I 'analysed' live. A real life example of Bad Therapy no doubt!
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March 2026 I will be bringing Stand Up Therapy to Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
General nonsense
I started with comedy as part of Bright Club (comedy about research by nerds) and loved the attention. While too old and frazzled to do open mics, I take any opportunity to do a set on mental health topics, such as: 'Trauma informed comedy' at The Community Psychology conference 2023, my work night out in Nov 2024 (got 4 stars!!) and taking part in Robyn Perkins Comedy for the Curious at Ed Fringe 2024.
Always happy to tailor a set to a specific audience! Get in touch if I might be a good fit for your event.
