The Proclaimers

From comedian & writer Paul Kerensa:

I’ve been to a physio for the first time. I'd always thought the physio was for sudden injuries, like football strikers’ dodgy ankles, or pop stars falling off stages after cape malfunctions. Mine was a creeping knee pain, steadily worse over a couple of years.

A chance comment from a pal recommended I try and get seen. Sometimes we don’t notice the thing about us that needs fixing; it takes friendly encouragement to make us take action, on the slow-creeping problems in our lives.

The physio asked what I did for a living. “Stand-up comedy,” I replied. “Oh,” she said. “That explains it. You’ve got ‘Stand-Up’s Knee’.” So apparently that’s a thing.

“Are you a static stand-up?” she asked. “Or do you skip around like Michael McIntyre?” I’m quite still, I replied. “Oh,” she said. “You should skip around like Michael McIntyre.”

Everyone’s a critic. She said if I wanted, at the next session she’d put some ultra-tough sticky tape on the backs of my knees, so they couldn’t lock straight. “Shave your leg-hairs though,” she said. “It’s heavy-duty tape.”

So I shaved my legs, with my wife’s help, who brought out a razor with glee. I survived and returned to the physio for the knee-tape. She asked if I'd shaved my leg-hairs; I said yes and dropped trouser. “Oh! Your legs are entirely shaved!”, she exclaimed, holding the world’s smallest piece of tape. A couple of centimetres! My shaved legs were unnecessary! In physio, a little tape goes a long way.

The same’s true of encouragement. A little goes far. There’s a biblical proverb: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” My friend’s small encouragement ensured I finally noticed a gradual concern that needed fixing.

So I encourage the encouragers. When we need mending, beginning with that little piece of sticking-tape can start making things right. I say this bald of leg. And my, Chris, isn’t it chilly for the time of year...