Our comedy workshop @ Celf

Yesterday as a team we explored how comedy could inform our work around participation - specifically around engaging with people who have been in contact with mental health services or those close to them - and learned new ways to tell stories or describe experiences.

Who better to enlist to help us than Owen Griffkin of Havin' A Laugh fame. And what better premises for our workshop than the Celf Centre run by the art charity Celf O Gwympas in Llandrindod Wells. The place is stuffed full of weird and wonderful and very inspiring artwork. You only have to look at some of it to find yourself smiling. And, they even have red noses of their very own! Perfect for those of us working on a Comic Relief funded project called Standing up for emotional health and wellbeing (that would be Anne then, far right in the photo).

Artwork at Celf by Dean Warburton

In our very own bespoke Havin' A Laugh workshop Owen took us through a series of games over the course of a couple of hours. We were amazed to discover that there was much humour to be found in our own everyday lives and stories.

Owen Griffkin - the comedy master - and Jane Cooke, our Senior Officer Mental Health

In the first session some of us had travelled billions of miles (think Universe, speed of light, Star Wars kind of community transport) to put the most important question imaginable to The Oracle. Two of us had the slightly challenging task of answering the questions (as a sort of bizarre two-headed Oracle), one word at a time, each after the other... talk about throwing us in at the deep end. 

Questions ranged from the fairly predictable "What is the meaning of life?" to the intriguing "Why is there a colour purple?" to a rather random travel enquiry: "How do I get to Atlantis?" The answer to the latter being, quite obviously: "Atlantis relies upon your soul being attuned to many places including the underneath of your feet exactly." So.... now we know...

Artwork at Celf by Dean Warburton

Next up: Truth and Lies.... Each of us had to tell three facts about ourselves to the others in the group. Simple enough, surely? But, there was a catch. (Of course). One of the facts had to be a lie, and the others had to guess which one... Blimey, we never knew this could be so hard... our colleagues turn out to be masterful liars!

Here are the three facts Jane told us about herself.... which one do you think is the lie...?

1. All of my three children were born on a Thursday.
2. I did not start speaking properly until the age of 4.
3. My childhood ambition was to be a show jumper and a hairdresser.

One of my truths involved attending a Star Trek convention many many light years ago, but perhaps the less said about that the better....

Anne Woods - Participation Officer, and Philip Moisson - Powys Patients' Council facilitator

Further games followed, far too many to mention here, but you get a feel for the state of comedy affairs by this stage of the afternoon...

One of my favourite games was The Interview. We took it in turns to interview each other for a number of job vacancies, including Waste Recycling Operative and Koala Bear Midwife. We were either super-confident or extremely nervous, Owen explained to us. One of the funniest sessions was Anne being interviewed, as a nervous potential Rocket Scientist, by Phil. Here is how it went:

Phil: How are you?
Anne: A bit nervous.
Phil: There's no room for nerves in rocket science.
Anne: Oh. Sorry.
Phil: So, what would you bring to our next expedition?
Anne: Not much. But I'd give it a go.
Phil: What do you know about Rocket Science exactly?
Anne: Just a little. But I could go to the library and read up on it.
Phil: Right....
Anne: The main thing is... well, let's just hope we come back from the expedition.
Phil: D'you think you're confident enough for this type of role?
Anne: I am a worrier. But I do double and triple check things. I might have to restart the countdown... Once we got down to 7 I'd have to go back up to 10...

Anyone out there looking to employ a nervous Rocket Scientist then...?

By the end of the afternoon we were absolutely exhausted we'd all laughed so hard. So we sat down and had a much-earned rest for half an hour. At the same time ('cause we're so good at multi-tasking) we ate a few biscuits, drank coffee and/or water, and chatted about how we might put these techniques to use in our participation work. We started off by acknowledging that some of us had been quite apprehensive about the session, and even a little nervous going into some of the games, but ultimately had found them extremely enjoyable and very rewarding.

We also decided that using funny and engaging ways of looking at life could be a great way of showing the realities of life for people in contact with mental health services. For example, for exploring day-to-day life on a mental health ward, or what it's like waiting to access talking therapies. At the very least some of the games could be used to break the ice at meetings and we all agreed they created a very levelling experience where we are all people together sharing some small details of our lives.

What do you think? Would you like to have a laugh? Find out more about the Havin' A Laugh workshops running at Mid Powys Mind. Or let us know your thoughts in the comments box below.

By the way, the next Stand up for emotional health and wellbeing meeting takes place this coming Monday 29 February in Llandrindod Wells. It will be at the Resource Centre, Mid Powys Mind between 3 - 5pm. If you have been in contact with mental health services, or are close to someone who has, and would like to speak with mental health professionals or give some feedback about your experiences, we would love to see you there. And if you would like to find out more about the project please contact Anne by emailing: anne.woods@pavo.org.uk or ring 01597 822191.

The Cash Cow at Celf - even she has a red nose!

Havin' a Comedy Christmas 2015

"Tis the season to be jolly....." 

Yes, it's that time of year again. It's unbelievable how quickly it turns up each December.  In 2014 we posted Top 10 Tips to Survive Christmas, as we recognise that the festive season is not everyone's favourite period.

For Christmas 2015 our team have been inspired by local comedian Owen Griffkin's new comedy workshops to think how laughter has kept us going over Christmases past.

Each of the team has come up with a book, or film, or memory that has made them laugh in Christmases gone by whilst wondering whether to embrace the holly (ouch) and mince pies with family, friends or even complete strangers, or just run and hide.

"Fa la la la la, la la la la...."

Angharad

Many things remind me of Christmas and the laughs I’ve had, such as watching classic 1990 Christmas film ‘Home Alone’ with Macaulay Culkin. But the highlight of any recent Christmas was watching my dog, Bella (a fluffy white bichon frise) open my mum’s Christmas presents for her. As the centre of our little family, she is without a doubt put on the highest pedestal, treated like a human and the focus of me and my mum’s lives. I’ve had the blessing of owning Bella since my last year in primary school, which makes Bella around 14 years old (an old lady!) yet she still has the personality of a puppy and hasn’t lost any of her diva like qualities yet. She is spoiled, and rightly so!

Last Christmas, the buzz and excitement of smelling her Christmas dinner and her presents under the tree were too much to bear, and she began like a puppy, tearing the corners of the wrapping paper off. We normally get her to help open a small section of our presents, but last year, she came into her own! Without any warning she took centre stage and started unwrapping presents in the middle of the living room, swinging the paper around with her mouth as best she could, determined to find out what was inside! After some playful growling, swinging wrapping paper and presents and holding them down with her paws, she had unbelievably managed to open two well wrapped presents! This memory always makes me laugh at how loving and funny animals can be, who enjoy Christmas as much as anyone else! It also made me and my mum hysterically laugh, along with us clapping and cheering her along!

‘Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.’ George Eliot

Anne

When Jackie suggested this topic for a blog, my heart sank slightly. Call me Scrooge but Christmas isn’t one of my favourite times of year. 

But then I remembered my favourite scene from "The Wrong Trousers", an Aardman Animations film starring Wallace & Gromit that was first shown on Boxing Day in 1993, and will be forever associated with Christmas for me. It’s the train set chase scene where Gromit is attempting to stop criminal penguin Feathers McGraw escaping after a diamond heist. When Gromit grabs the box marked spare track and frenetically starts to lay track to keep the toy train on the rails, I was in hysterics. It’s well worth watching the clip on YouTube. I defy anyone not to smile whilst watching it.

Jackie

Way, way back in 1982 I ripped open a Christmas present whilst on holiday in Dorset. It was a copy of the now legendary Adrian Mole book by Sue Townsend - “The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾”. I started reading, was hooked after two pages, and didn’t stop until I’d finished a few hours later. The Christmas pudding was long since cold, the mince pies just crumbs swimming in spilled alcohol, and my elbows had turned black and blue from lying still for so long. It was the funniest book I’d read in ages by a classic writer of comedy fiction. Who hasn’t heard of Adrian Mole?

Sue Townsend went on to write a total of 8 books about Adrian Mole, taking him from angst-ridden teenager in the Thatcherite years of the 1980s to the brink of middle age in the The Prostrate Years and Gordon Brown’s New Labour era of the late noughties. I haven’t read the later volumes - so there is more laughter to look forward to yet.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes from the original classic:

“I must say that I take my hat off to Sainsbury's, they seem to attract a better class of person. I saw a vicar choosing toilet paper; he chose a four-roll pack of purple three-ply. He must have money to burn! He could have bought some shiny white and given the difference to the poor. What a hypocrite!”

“It is the first day of spring. The council have chopped all the elms down in Elm Tree Avenue.” 

“I have never seen a dead body or a female nipple. This is what comes from living in a cul-de-sac.”

Jane

Some years ago my mother came for Christmas. She was (she died this year) a very difficult person and there was always a fair amount of tension with her around. During Christmas Eve she snapped at one of my teenage children for not doing, in her eyes, sufficient washing up. A general shouting match ensued with my mother shouting at said child and ripping up the Christmas present she was going to give to this offspring - who obviously shouted back that no-one had wanted Granny to come anyway and me shouting at my mother in defence of my children. 

Meanwhile my husband was at his work’s Christmas booze-up - which was legendary. My daughter rang the most likely pub, found him and summoned him back. Eventually he wove his way home and into this maelstrom, lay on the floor and declared “I love you all!”. I can’t actually remember what happened next - but I found a mention of this in some notes after my mother moved out of her house into a nursing home - she had written “Christmas with Jane and children, least said”. For us this is now a traditional family Christmas story, and I guess it goes to show that Christmas can be difficult and tense and also, at least in retrospective, hilarious too.

Support over Christmas

Wellness and Recovery Learning Centres around Powys are open at some point over Christmas and the New Year and would welcome your visit. Click here to find their contact details and links to their own websites.You can link to national helplines here.

If you need help urgently find information here.

Have a Happy Comedy Christmas and we look forward to hearing from you in 2016!

Comedy and Wellbeing - Havin’ A Laugh Project

by guest author, Owen Griffkin

Gein's Family Gift Shop

There’s an old saying which goes -  "Laughter is the best medicine." There’s also a joke, which is nearly as old, which retorts, "Unless you are diabetic, and then it’s insulin".

I was a stand-up comedian for a good while back in the last millennium, and now I produce a host of comedy nights in and around the Mid Wales area and I have to say that I wholeheartedly agree with this adage, having seen first hand the benefits of a ‘right good b%***y laugh’.

Anyone with any experience of mental health issues knows that laughter is a wonderful way to feel better as it decreases our stress hormones, produces endorphins and increases memory, alertness and learning.

It’s for this reason that I have been working with the Wyeside Arts Centre, the Arts Council of Wales, and the Garfield Weston Foundation on a pilot project right here in Powys to help build confidence, improve mental wellbeing and break down some of the stigma attached to mental health issues.

I had the idea after holding workshops for the recent DIY Futures project and again with Powys Mental Health Information Service. The workshops comprised of simple and quick word play and story-building exercises, which had the participants finding new ways to share experiences in a safe environment. These were a lot of fun and there was huge interest in a longer-term project.

Participants on Owen's Laughter Workshop
Individuals' Forum Day, Caersws, April 2015

Finally after consultation and planning the idea has finally come to fruition (hooray!) in the form of the ‘Havin’ A Laugh’ project and we will be running some taster workshops this October. This will lead on to the main part of the project in early 2016 which will consist of 4/5 more in-depth sessions.

The project will be led by James Meehan and Kiri Pritchard McLean, two of the team behind ‘Gein’s Family Giftshop’ - a deliciously dark sketch show group who have just had a mini-series produced on BBC Radio Wales, and appeared in an episode of the ‘Inside No.9' programme on BBC 2. They have been nominated for most of the major comedy awards over the last two years and we couldn’t ask for anyone better to be heading up this project.

The sessions will be suitable for anyone from any background, of any age and physical ability.

There won’t be any pressure to perform and the focus will be on looking at your stories in a new way, confidence building, and, most importantly, having a laugh and enjoying ourselves.

There will be an OPEN TASTER at Wyeside Arts Centre on Wednesday 14th October from 1:00 - 4:30pm which is open to all and is a great way to see what you can gain from the project.

For more information or to book a place please email owengriffkin@gmail.com

UPDATE!!

The Open Taster at Wyeside Arts Centre is no longer going ahead. However, there are three other Havin' A Laugh workshops taking place which are open to all:

Tuesday 13 October - 1 - 4pm & 5.30 - 8.30pm

The Wellbeing Centre, Mid Powys Mind, Llandrindod Wells

Thursday 15 October - 2 - 4pm

Wesley Church Centre, Hospital Road, Builth Wells