A comedy enthusiast who struggles with anxiety has described his stand-up debut as “exposure therapy”.
Adam Rogers, from Chapeltown, Sheffield, decided to step out of his comfort zone and embrace his passion for punchlines.
“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but was the most liberating thing I’d ever done,” he said.
Rogers, 41, performed his first comedy gig in Sheffield in December 2025.
He understood the irony in his performance and said he had gained a “sense of freedom” through facing his fears, despite finding it “very anxiety-inducing”.
“I wanted to do things that really challenged my anxiety and pushed me out my comfort zone,” he said.
“It’s amazing how long five minutes feels when you’re in front of 200 people,” he added.
He has now performed 11 times across comedy clubs and open mic nights.
Rogers was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder in 2019, but it was as he faced a milestone birthday in 2025 that he felt motivated to tackle his condition and change his life.
“The realisation that I was going to hit 40 kicked in and so I created a bucket list of things that I wished I’d done at a younger age but hadn’t,” he said.