If you don’t get a thanks for opening the door for someone, don’t take offence!
Visually impaired comedian James Connell has countless stories of what it is like living in a sighted world and he uses it all as material for his stand-up comedy gigs.
His impressive performance saw him earn the runner-up spot in the Southport New Comedian Of The Year competition, sponsored by Crystal Clear Opticians, at Southport Comedy Festival in October.
The 55-year-old, who lives in Southport, revealed: “Comedy is a way of talking about sight loss in a lighter sense as I point out the struggles you have as a visually impaired person in a sighted world. It has opened up a different world for me.
“I have been gigging all over the North West, but mainly Southport. It all started when I did a comedy course where there was a chance to do a five-minute stand-up gig at the end, which was terrifying. But once I did it, I was hooked. My friend and I then started gigging all around Southport.”
Some of James’ material comes from his own experiences of sight loss, as he explained: “Strange things happen when you are visually impaired as everyone experiences the same things, like someone may open a door for you and you don’t say thank you as you don’t know they have done it. There are a lot of things that happen to everybody, so I take note of that.”
Southport comedian James Connell was runner-up in the Southport New Comedian Of The Year 2021 competition at Southport Comedy Festival. Photo by Brendan Riley
James was diagnosed with degenerative myopia 10 years ago, but his sight loss journey has been ongoing since he shattered his retina after falling from a slide when he was three.
He said: “I fractured my skull, broke my pelvis and ruptured my eye. I had a shattered retina, but no-one noticed until I was 11 and by then it was too late. I had always had bad eyesight and 10 years ago, when I was 45, I started having bad headaches. I woke up one morning and could not see and a few days later my sight had completely gone.
“I had nine months of coming to terms with it, just sitting on my sofa as I was off work. I didn’t go out.”
James eventually came to terms with his eye condition and returned back to work as a part time offender support worker. He then found support through sight loss charity Galloway’s in Southport.
He adds: “It was Galloway’s who put me in touch with an eye clinic. When you lose your sight you don’t know where to turn. The only blind person I knew was me. So I started going to Galloway’s in Southport after that and did the Braille classes and driving days. I volunteered there and found a good support community.”
Southport comedian James Connell (centre) was runner-up in the Southport New Comedian Of The Year 2021 competition at Southport Comedy Festival. Photo by Brendan Riley
The father-of-two began to regain his confidence and prompted by his wife Helen, he started doing stand-up comedy.
After a 15-month break because of lockdowns, James has since restarted the comedy circuit, with his first gig being to blind and partially sighted people at Galloway’s over Zoom. His jokes went down so well, he has been invited back for the charity’s virtual Christmas party on Friday December 3.
James, who came second in the Southport New Comedian of the Year competition at Southport Comedy Festival in October, said: “It means a lot to be able to give something back. In the early days Galloway’s helped me and I got a lot of friends there. It was good to know they were on the other side of Zoom or the phone having a good time.”
If you are blind or partially sighted and would like to attend the Galloway’s Christmas party over Zoom, call 01772 744148. The event starts at 7pm. Tickets are £10 and include a hamper to be delivered beforehand.
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrown@gmail.com
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post…
Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely helpful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this particular information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.
Copper refining processes Copper scrap processing efficiency Scrap metal material handling
Copper cable types, Scrap metal testing, Scrap copper end markets
Metal waste regeneration, Copper scrap revenue optimization, Scrap Copper cable stripping tools, Metal scrap dealer
Metal waste recovery services Scrap metal drop-off Iron recovery
Ferrous scrap metal recycling, Iron scrap salvage center, Metal waste repurposing technologies
Great ?V I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs and related info ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, web site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Excellent task..
Metal recycling regulations Ferrous waste recycling and reclamation Iron scrap reclamation yard
Ferrous material safety procedures, Iron scrap inspection, Scrap metal purchasing
Scrap metal recovery services Ferrous material recycling research Iron and steel scrapping and recycling
Ferrous material distribution network, Iron scrap reprocessing facility, Metal waste remanufacturing
Scrap metal reclamation depots Ferrous metal reclamation center Iron scrap utilization services
Ferrous material recycling techniques, Iron recycling and reclaiming solutions, Scrap metal rejuvenation
Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all significant infos. I would like to peer extra posts like this.
Great work! That is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared around the internet. Disgrace on Google for no longer positioning this publish higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thank you =)