It took a heart scare to make a comedian change his life for the better, he tells Viv Hardwick.

IT’S entirely excusable that Geordie comic Jason Cook is heading for Stanley’s Lamplight Arts Centre with a pre- Edinburgh fringe show called The End (Part 1).

Last December, he was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack and has also been told he can never drink alcohol again.

“It is actually quite a happy show, but I like the title because it is an oxymoron,” says Cook. “I was working too hard last Christmas and only took three days off in three months.

My wife had to call an ambulance because everyone thought I was having a heart attack, although it has now turned into one of the funniest parts of the show.”

Having been given the all-clear, he decided to think about changing his life, as well as considering what he might say to God when he got to heaven.

“I decided on a three-pronged attack: to be a better man, a better husband and to try make my life mean something. I also said to my wife about being a better husband and she told me to stop being so high maintenance. A few days later I got an email from her with a list of all the things I do. And that’s now getting a big laugh at my expense.”

One of the complaints was that Cook had picked an argument with his wife because she wasn’t on his Facebook account as one of his fans.

“She said, ‘I don’t have to be’ and I’m saying, ‘yeah but, you know…’,”

he blusters and reveals that his wife started going with him to gigs after Christmas while he recovered from his collapse.

Most of his material comes from the fact that he lives life with the “record” button on. His only worry about doing Edinburgh next month is that, for the first time, he can’t drink. “I used to be able to go there and get drunk, but it looks like I’ve got hemochromatosis (an inherited disorder where the blood retains too much iron).

“That’s quite annoying because before I started as a comic I was in the Merchant Navy and lived a kind of rock’n’roll lifestyle. I should be getting the final diagnosis any day now.

The doctor said it was a genetic thing relating to people with Irish ancestry and I told him that I had Irish stock on both sides. He said, ‘but you also have to have joint pain’ and I said that I’d had a bad back for years.”

The stand-up’s wonderful mother is still going strong and features in the act. On growing old, her famed comment is: “If you took the top of my head off and looked at my brain you’d find an yellow Asda Oops (outof- date) sticker on it”.

Cook says: “My mum said the act was brilliant, but added, ‘I’m not very happy about the sticker on my head’. Mind you, I’m not as bad as one comic who has a dad who comes along and heckles him.”

■ The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club presents Jason Cook and Viz co-founder Simon Donald tomorrow at Stanley’s Lamplight Arts Centre. Tickets: £15. Box Office: 01207-218899.

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