A COMEDIAN bringing her second show to the Edinburgh Fringe has opened up about her experience with weight-loss medication and the importance of using comedy as an “outlet”.
Acclaimed Canadian comic Michelle Shaughnessy (below) talks about her use of the weight-loss drug Ozempic in her show Too Late, Baby, at this year’s Fringe.
Ozempic is an injection typically used to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
It has quickly become one of the most popular weight loss drugs, with pharmacies prescribing it “off-label” – meaning it is not prescribed for its original intended use – for those seeking to lose weight.
The use of Ozempic as a weight-loss drug has led to a national shortage of the medication, with supply chain issues expected to continue throughout 2024.
Shaughnessy has taken Wegovy since December 2022 – it is the same medication as Ozempic, sold under a different brand name.
She started taking it after struggling with a complex relationship with her own weight.
“A couple of years ago when I moved here I gained a bunch of weight that I had lost previously,” Shaughnessy told The National.
“My weight’s always gone up and down, I was bullied all through school – I think it was worse in the noughties, when I was coming of age.
“You couldn’t even be a little bit chubby, you couldn’t even just look healthy without being teased.
“That always stuck with me, and I saw myself gaining the weight back and it really stressed me out, so I started Ozempic in Christmas 2022.”
Shaughnessy acknowledged there was debate about the use of Ozempic to treat weight loss but had talked to her supplier before she started taking it to address any of her concerns.
“I do want to acknowledge that maybe it’s not the healthiest for everyone, and it is important to talk to your doctor before you do it – which I didn’t, because it’s very easy to get online.”
'It's very easy to become obsessed when you have a history with body image'
Shaughnessy’s relationship with Ozempic comes through in her show, which started its run at the Fringe on Saturday.
“When I first started writing my show I was really unapologetic about it, I was maybe too jokey about it,” she said.
“As time goes on, I’m definitely realising that it’s probably something that I’m not going to want to be on forever.
“It’s a good tool for a lot of people but I think it’s very easy to become obsessed when you already have that kind of history with weight and body image.
“That started to happen to me, and that’s when I realised I should really reassess and rethink, and I talk about that in my show.”
Shaugnessy moved from Canada to the UK in 2022, when she also brought her debut show Be Your Own Daddy to the Edinburgh Fringe.
The experience of performing in Scotland came as a shock, as she had never had a reviewer coming to her show before.
“Where I’m from, in Toronto, we have one reviewer that just reviews everything – for them to be able to come out and do comedy is very rare,” Shaughnessy said.
“The whole point of reviews just isn’t something we’re used to.
“Now I see that there’s all this stuff that I didn’t realise goes into the comedy shows everyone makes here.
“That was definitely a bit overwhelming, because it was the first time that I knew I was going to have people reviewing me.”
'Comedy helps me feel like I'm dealing with my problems'
As well as diving into her relationship with Ozempic, Too Late, Baby also explores Shaughnessy’s thoughts on growing older and not achieving everything she had set out to do.
“Comedy helps me not be alone with those thoughts, it helps me feel like I have an outlet,” she told The National.
“It also buys me some time until I actually have to deal with my problems in life – because writing jokes about my problems makes me feel like I’m dealing with them.
“I just don’t want all the stuff I’ve gone through to have been for nothing, and I think if I don’t make it into a show or make it funny, then I’ll just feel like I’ve let that stuff win.
She hopes her audience will leave the show knowing that “it’s okay to be unhappy”.
“Life isn’t perfect, we’re all going to make mistakes,” Shaughnessy said.
“I do think it's possible to be grateful for your life and also unappreciative of some of the things that have happened in it.”
Michelle Shaughnessy: Too Late, Baby is on at Underbelly, Bristo Square (Daisy), August 9-11, 13-25 at 14.45. Tickets are available here.
