Life’s struggles become laughs

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is a familiar saying, which Friedrich Nietzsche originated over 100 years ago.

I bet his descendants wish he’d copyrighted it. Imagine the T-shirt sales!

When we’ve survived an unpleasant, perhaps life-threatening experience we naturally feel determined to get on and do things we wouldn’t have been able to, had matters not turned out so well.

Jerry Seinfeld is one of the greatest American comedians of the past 30 years but even he, in his early days, struggled.

One night, while performing at a New York disco, the audience ignored him and continued to dance throughout his act!

As soul-destroying as that must have been, he never gave up. He’s now a multi-millionaire and his sitcom “Seinfeld” is considered a classic.

On a more serious note, three years ago, at the age of 46, my friend and fellow comedian Tudur Owen was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and, as you can imagine, his world (and that of his family) was turned upside down.

The cancer was successfully removed, not by scalpel, but by a state-of-the-art machine using keyhole surgery, operated by a surgeon with the skill-set of a modern computer-gaming whizz.

Tudur’s praise for the NHS and the people who cared for him after his operation and throughout his recovery is overwhelming.

Blessed with a highly creative comedy mind, Tudur turned that terrible experience into material which he’s incorporated into his latest one-man show, running at the Edinburgh comedy festival throughout August.

I think it’s his best work to date and every performance is sold-out.

I witnessed people crying with laughter, while being party to a life-changing message.

It takes real talent to produce a comedy masterpiece from such a dark subject and Tudur Owen has it by the bucketload. In his case, what didn’t kill him made him even funnier than he was!