One of the regular questions a comedian gets is: Where do you get all your material?

Well, the answer is simple.

It’s all ‘out there’ in the real world.

There isn’t a day that goes by without something happening – something which cries out to be entered into the comedy notebook for possible future use.

Just take the other day as an example.

I was at Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli to visit an elderly relative.

(As an aside, why did they have to name the hospital after the Prince? Why couldn’t it have been given a solid ‘does-what-it-says-on-the-tin’ name like Llanelli?)

Now, a hospital visit is often a more serious affair than comical. But you do find comedy in the most unusual of places.

As I was walking through the foyer of the hospital, I couldn’t help but overhear one woman patient declare –

“I’m off outside for a breath of fresh air . . . and a fag!”

You couldn’t make it up, could you?

Years ago on another hospital visit, I recall seeing one patient alternate between oxygen mask and smouldering cigarette.

That was a sight more harrowing than funny ha-ha.

But, even in the presence of the Grim Reaper, you will often find reason to smile.