Adam Kay's first book, This Is Going To Hurt, started life as a humble stage show charting his time as a hospital doctor. A passing publisher suggested there might be a book in it. There was. Over three million people bought it and it was turned into a hit TV series starring Ben Whishaw.
Kay is back with a new book, Undoctored, and a new show drawing on incidents before, during and after his medical career. The subtitle, This Is Going To Hurt... More, says it all. This show will have you in stitches but there are also stories that will make you squirm if you are squeamish, and cry if you care about the NHS.
Alongside darkly hilarious accounts including a guilty recollection of overindulging on Pinot Grigio with messy consequences and a cautionary tale about wrapping yourself in tin foil, there is a stark political subtext. Not about poor pay, but about doctors being poorly prepared for the strain on their mental health.
Kay recalls how his training woefully failed him, explaining how his class was "taught communication skills like an amdram production of Holby City". Students that wanted to succeed had to build up a tough carapace, but there was always a risk the shield might crack.
Doctors are awful at self-care and make terrible patients, he notes: "You’re always worried you’ll be laughed out of the surgery: 'That’s not a brain tumour, your hat’s just too tight!'" He is a low-key performer, unflashily standing behind a lectern shaped like a giant pill bottle, but his writing is taut and concise.
Pace is varied by musical pastiches. The Bangles' Eternal Flame becomes Internal Pain. A highlight is Kay recalling his woeful results in his medical exams, joined onstage by comedian Sooz Kempner playing the invigilator: "You're white and posh and male, so we can't let you fail."
Kay's decision to quit after a traumatic experience in obstetrics was covered in his previous show so is skimmed over here. But his notorious 'degloving" skit returns by popular demand and still makes my eyes water as much as when I first heard it at the Glasgow Comedy Festival over half a decade ago.
In the final third Kay gets personal, opening up about becoming a father, from sperm donation, with all the obligatory comic minutiae, to a Richard Curtis-style race to the maternity wing. The climax is corny but effective, revealing a softer side to Kay. He is only here for a week, make an appointment.
