Comedian Laurence Clark hits Salford on Sunday with his latest show Independence, drawing on his disability.
The performer, who suffers from cerebral palsy, uses the show as an opportunity to explain life with a disability whilst poking fun at some of the ridiculous notions surrounding it.
However, Laurence said that the show was about making people smile more than teaching about his disability.
He told MM said: “Primarily you’re trying to make people laugh. No one really buys a ticket to a comedy show to be educated but I think a natural by-product of that is that it makes people think.
“Good comedy will make people think but you should never lose sight of the fact that it’s a comedy show that people have paid to see.”
On previous occasions Laurence has made fun of public attitudes towards disability.
In one memorable video, he travelled around a town and told able-bodied people how well they were doing at simple tasks, as a parody of the way disabled people can be mislabelled as ‘inspirational’ while they are just going about their lives.
Laurence pointed out that people think that cerebral palsy is central to his act and, although his disability is part of his shows, there is a lot more to him.
He said: “Who we are shapes our outlook on life and how we view the world. Being disabled certainly gives me a different outlook. But you don’t go through day to day life thinking, ‘I have cerebral palsy, I can’t do this that or the other.’”
The show itself was critically well received at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and will tour at 5 locations across the UK.
The name of the tour, Independence, is meant to denote the freedom which Laurence has in certain parts of life despite his disability. However, he says he wishes it had been named differently as people often confuse it for a show about Brexit.
Tickets for the show, at the Lowry, are available by clicking here.
