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Why my HIV positive diagnosis IS a laughing matter

11 January 2018

“I thought, ‘I need to talk about this. I need to put it in a show’. I decided I was just going to talk about it all.”

Contracting HIV in Glasgow increased my life expectancy

Scott Agnew, comedian

Stand-up comedian Scott Agnew is referring to I’ve Snapped My Banjo String, Let’s Just Talk, which he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016.

While the show may have been therapeutic for Scott, this candid look at his life also gave his audiences a thought-provoking insight into living with HIV.

The former winner of Scottish Comedian of the Year had lived a chaotic, hedonistic lifestyle with mental health issues, a planned suicide and addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex, and gambling featuring heavily.

But, , the positive test result was a turning point.

“You can’t have lived your life the way that I had been living my life and not expect that to happen at some point,” says Scott.

“[But] when you hear those words; it does change your perspective.

“[You think] ‘Oh, I’ve potentially got something that, if untreated, could finish me off within the next 10-15 years’. You start to feel the clock ticking. You go, ‘What is it I want to do?’.”

and now works with the Terence Higgins Trust, encouraging people to speak openly about their own diagnoses.

But there’s one area he won’t teach.

“I don’t get them to do stand-up,” says Scott. “I don’t need the competition!”

Julia Sutherland gets personal with one of Scotland鈥檚 most fascinating comedy talents, digging into the darkest corners of their psyche, while they keep us laughing along the way.