Comedian Paul Sinha says Parkinson’s diagnosis has been ‘comedy goldmine’
By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter
The Chase star and stand-up comedian Paul Sinha has said having Parkinson’s disease has proved to be a “comedy goldmine” for him.
The quizzer and comic, 55, will talk about the progressive neurological condition in a stand up show he is taking to Edinburgh Festival Fringe, two years after he had two heart attacks while at the arts event.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB), he said: “I was actually here a couple of years ago plugging the 2023 show.
“And it was a bit of a wild show. It was very much about my life as a gay, disabled son of immigrants, but it was quite a political show, and it was a big show.
“I was in a room with 400 people in and it all got on top of me and I had two heart attacks in the same Edinburgh Fringe. Two! Week number one and week number three.
“The first one, I was shaking the hand of Levi Roots (Reggae Reggae Sauce creator) in a bar when I had a heart attack.”
He added: “I didn’t want to cause a scene. I didn’t want to call an ambulance. I thought I might as well just get into a cab to take me to the nearest hospital as quick as possible, which is what I did.
“The first time they didn’t diagnose it properly, so they sent me home and the second time they said, ‘These have been two small heart attacks’.
“And I said, ‘Can I carry on?’ And they said, ‘We’re not going to tell you what to do.’
“So I carried on. But looking back on it, that’s not the right thing to do. I know why I did it, because of the Edinburgh Festival, and I didn’t want to lose a huge amount of money.”
Asked how he deals with his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis in the show, he said: “I do lots of jokes about it. It’s as simple as that. You deal with the cards you’ve been dealt, and if you’ve been given a comedy goldmine, as Parkinson’s is, then you deal with it.
“I mean, as far as I’m aware, no other comedians at the Edinburgh Fringe will be talking about their own struggles with neurological degeneration so might as well be me.”
Parkinson’s disease is a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years and its main symptoms are tremors, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles, according to the NHS website.
Charity Parkinson’s UK says it is not known exactly what causes the condition but researchers think it is a combination of age, genetic and environmental factors that cause the dopamine-producing nerve cells to die.
Sinha will take his 30th anniversary show, 2 Sinha Lifetime, to Edinburgh’s The Stand Comedy Club this summer.