An amateur stand up comedian has credited laughter to helping her on her journey to recovery from breast cancer.
Stand up comedian April Louise advocated stand up comedy for increasing people’s confidence and now wants to launch workshops in schools and prisons.
Born and raised on the Manor Estate in Sheffield, April Louise is the operations lead at the Sheffield Social Enterprise Network, supporting local enterprises in Sheffield.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 at age 35, April started to raise money for Cancer Research by doing stand up comedy, and after enjoying performing on stage following an eight week course, saw how it improved lives in a variety of ways.
She said: “When I started the course I felt like I‘d lost all my confidence.”
April added she had lost her job during COVID, and having kids and also having been diagnosed with breast cancer, made her self-esteem plummet.
But she credits the course with helping her on her journey, She said: “Some people on the course wouldn’t leave the house before on their own [or] were struggling to process their own trauma.”
After seeing how stand up comedy can change lives, April decided to start her own social enterprise called ‘Gags For Good’ in November. The project aims to help people of all different backgrounds improve confidence and public speaking skills by doing courses and workshops in comedy writing and performing.
After four weeks of the class, she said the members are “flying”
April is hoping to further her social enterprise by doing workshops in schools, as having a 10-year-old daughter herself, recognises that the only public speaking children often do is reading aloud in class.
“If you can write something you enjoy writing and you and other people think is funny, you get the laughter back, and you get something from it other than fear”
She would also love to bring “Gags for Good’ into prisons to help improve the education system of prisoners, so when they come out of prisons, they feel more confident for job interviews and reentering society.
