On November 6, 2024
Arts, Dining & Entertainment

Nurse Blake proves that laughter is the best medicine

By Rowan Daly / Nurse Blake brings his one-nurse comedy show to the Paramount Theatre in Rutland on Nov. 21.

By James Kent

By the time comedian Nurse Blake arrives in Rutland for his Nov. 21 performance at the Paramount Theatre, he’ll have performed nearly 180 shows of his “Shock Advised Comedy Tour.” The tour, which began in 2023 and has taken Nurse Blake around the country and to places as far away as Australia and New Zealand, has been so successful he added a second leg of his tour back in June to meet the demand.

Nurse Blake, whose full name is Blake Lynch, didn’t start out wanting to be a comedian and entertainer. As Blake puts it, “I went to nursing school to learn how to insert I.V.s, not to tell jokes.” Doing standup was the furthest thing from his mind. That changed in 2017 after a particularly stressful nursing shift. Blake found a creative outlet to deal with his stress and anxiety, which was creating videos for social media. These bits struck a chord, and 4 million social media subscribers later, Blake’s popularity within the nursing community and beyond. His annual “NurseCon at Sea” sells out every year. His live shows feature an hour and forty-five minutes of material, improv, and callbacks that make every performance fresh and engaging.

The COVID-19 pandemic arrived after Blake began dabbling with live performances, and as the world shut down, so did he. “That was a challenging time,” Blake acknowledged, and his first instinct was to go into a bubble and isolate. He found it difficult to be creative and funny. But the nursing community compelled him to get back out there and do shows. He kept hearing from them, saying, they “needed him.” That need to connect proved so strong that Nurse Blake returned to performing, which evolved into his current tour. Nurse Blake realizes the human need to laugh, saying, “If you don’t laugh, you’ll die.”

The secret to Nurse Blake’s success is relatability. “I’m just a regular guy sharing my story in a fun and relatable way,” Blake said. As for which profession, nursing or comedy, is the greater challenge? “What’s more difficult, trying to save a life or trying to make 1,000 drunk nurses laugh at a performance,” Blake said with a chuckle.

But it’s not all laughs for Blake. He is a passionate advocate for the nursing profession. His NurseCon app offers free continuing nursing education courses, and trying to get people interested in pursuing a career in nursing is one of his main missions, whether through his comedy or advocacy efforts. Although no longer in active practice, Nurse Blake maintains his nursing accreditation and shares a strong bond of solidarity with the nursing community. If an active nurses’ strike occurs near his performing venue, Nurse Blake said he tries to walk the picket line with them. It’s all part of the activism side of Blake that’s been there since 2013 when he started Banned4Life, which helped end the FDA’s lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood.

He is also the author of two children’s books, “I Want to Be a NURSE When I Grow Up” and “Nurse Blake’s Santa Sent to the E.R.” The inspiration for writing these books stems from Blake’s desire to promote nursing to children. “We need more nurses to inspire a new generation of nurses,” Blake said. “There were always books about becoming a doctor when I was growing up, but nothing about nursing.”

While the nursing community may know Nurse Blake, he insists non-medical professionals enjoy his show, too. And that all points back to his relatability. Blake said that even those who can’t relate to the nursing profession can relate to being a patient, and no one leaves his show without having a great time.

Tickets for Nurse Blake’s upcoming performance at The Paramount are selling quick, so if you are looking to laugh, get your ticket now before they’re all sold out.

For more on Nurse Blake, visit nurseblake.com. For tickets to Nurse Blake’s Nov. 21 performance at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland, go to paramountvt.org

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

Killington receives positive snow control for Audi FIS Ski World Cup race Nov. 30-Dec. 1

November 21, 2024
KILLINGTON—Killington Resort received a positive snow control announcement from FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation), the governing body of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup. With this announcement, Killington Resort can assure international race teams and ski racing fans traveling to central Vermont for Thanksgiving weekend that both the giant slalom and slalom races will…

One dead, two arrested in Rutland shooting

November 20, 2024
By Alan J. Keays / VTDigger Two Massachusetts men pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon, Nov. 18, to charges in the killing of a Rutland man. The prosecutor said the Friday night shooting was drug-related, and the two suspects may have been targeting someone else. Dylin Wainscott, 28, of Westfield, Massachusetts, faces charges of first-degree murder,…

Mountain Top Resort’s cross-country ski routes caught up in legal dispute

November 20, 2024
By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger Generations of cross-country skiers have flocked to Chittenden’s Mountain Top Resort to spend wintry days gliding along bucolic, snow-capped paths nestled in the shadow of Killington. As the popular cross-country skiing destination celebrates its 60th year in business, Mountain Top finds itself locked in a legal battle with its neighbors, John and…

Rutland weighs changes to its water filtration system 

November 20, 2024
By Adam Davis An event at the Rutland Recreation Community Center held last week by local and state officials and sparsely attended by the public outlined potential solutions to the rising levels of haloacetic acids in the city’s water supply.  The city is now looking to change how it will decontaminate its tap water as…