Adam Kay's Undoctored show becomes a medical drama
Adam Kay's stand-up show, Undoctored, about the comedian's six years as a junior doctor, took an ironic turn on Tuesday night, when his performance was interrupted by a shout of "medic!" for an ailing audience member.
The show, about Kay's life on and off the wards, had only been underway 15 minutes at the Blackpool Grand Theatre when the incident occurred. Fortunately, though perhaps unsurprisingly, the venue was full of trained physicians, with an eye-witness estimating that more than 20 left their seats to attend the emergency.
"My shows remain the safest place in the UK to have a medical emergency," This Is Going To Hurt creator Kay told British Comedy Guide. "Someone was unfortunately taken ill early into my performance at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool, and was immediately attended to by a number of brilliant healthcare staff, to whom I am extremely grateful - it's a job where you're never quite off duty.
The BAFTA-winner added: "I hope that the person taken ill is continuing to recover well. They have been offered tickets to a later show in the tour if they want to know how it ends!"
Audience member Steve Mather told the Blackpool Gazette: "At first we thought it was part of the show as we've never heard anyone shout 'medic!' before during a show but Adam took control from the stage and asked if there were any doctors in and could they help? Incredibly, two dozen jumped out of their seats to help! It was great to see them all react that way.
"The rest of the show was fantastic and served as a reminder of the amazing work our doctors and nurses do in the NHS."
Last year, Kay revealed that he expected to return to his former vocation himself at some point, telling the Sunday Times: "I probably will go back to medicine in some capacity, because every writer has got a sell-by date. And I do miss it desperately".
He has previously developed Med School, based upon the medical training he talks about in Undoctored, as a comedy drama for Netflix.
However, the project didn't get beyond early development with the streamer.
Undoctored continues at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Monday, with tickets for further tour dates available at adamkay.co.uk