The award-winning comedian Laura Smyth visited the National Prison Radio studios to talk about the importance of following your dreams despite the obstacles that may come your way.
And for Laura, that dream was to be a stand-up comedian and the obstacle was a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer.
She told National Prison Radio how she was able to stay focused on her goal despite the tough times.
Laura acknowledges that there are a lot of similarities between experiencing a life-changing situation like hers, and being in prison.
“You don’t know what you’re strong enough to handle until you go through it. Everything else will seem easy.”
In her early twenties, Laura found herself in temporary accommodation but after signing up to a university course, she became an English teacher.
She taught English for around ten years but knew she had to give comedy a go.
“The fear of not doing something will hold you back forever…. the change comes from being willing to fail.”
As Laura’s comedy career began to take off, the cancer diagnosis hit.
She soon observed that people often get it very wrong when talking to people with cancer and she decided to make a programme about it.
The now award-winning programme I Don’t Know What To Say is all about how humans respond when faced with difficult news and what she describes as “the weird responses you get when you have cancer.”
“It’s the same for people in prison”, she says “once you’re released from here, you watch… people won’t know what to say.”
National Prison Radio presenter ‘S’ tells her how much he laughed when listening to her show “you made cancer funny – which is a crazy thing to do.”
At the end of their interview, Laura reflects on her life and tells National Prison Radio what she would say to her 16-year-old self:
“Relax, like yourself and don’t sell yourself short.”
Laura Smyth’s interview will broadcast on NPR Talk on Wednesday 7th August 2024.
National Prison Radio is the world’s first national radio station for people in prison. It’s available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on in-cell TV.
NPR Talk is our talk show helping listeners find their future. The show focuses on issues in prison and features news, interviews and banter. NPR Talk broadcasts every Wednesday at 12:00 and 18:00 on National Prison Radio and reaches over 80,000 people behind bars across England and Wales.
National Prison Radio was founded by the Prison Radio Association – a registered charity. Shows like NPR Talk help people to cope with life inside prison and thrive on release. If you would like to support our work, and enhance the futures of people in prison across the UK you can make a donation at prison.radio/donate.
