Nurse Blake, who lives in a downtown Orlando condo, doesn’t have far to go when he performs his comedy at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 11.
“I’m literally walking to the show,” he says. “So lucky.”
But as Nurse Blake, Central Floridian Blake Lynch has come a long way since some silly social-media videos went viral in 2017. Today he has more than 4 million followers — many of them fellow nurses who can relate to his pointed jabs at life in America’s healthcare industry.
“I want to keep giving back to nurses,” he says. “Seeing people come together at my shows is so special to me. I just love it.”
Show business wasn’t in his blood. Growing up in Sanford, he attended Millennium Middle and Seminole High schools. “I wasn’t part of drama club or anything,” he recalls — although in ninth grade he was cast in a production of “Holes” at Orlando Repertory Theatre, now Orlando Family Stage.
There was perhaps one clue to his future line of work: “I was the ‘most spirited boy’ in high school,” he says with a laugh. “I got a sash and everything.”
His first real performing job came while he was attending the University of Central Florida, where he graduated with a nursing degree in 2014. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, he spent a year flying around Neverland with his pal Tinker Bell (wink-wink).
“It was basically a bet,” he says of donning the green tights and feathered cap. “I just did it for fun.”
But the experience proved useful in multiple ways — especially in dealing with people.
“Working at Disney in an entertainment role helped me with the meet-and-greets I do now,” he says. “It even helped me as a nurse; it’s all about making memories.”
He also met fellow cast member Timmy Bauer, who later co-wrote children’s books with him.
Lynch jokes, sort of, about the similarities between employment as a theme-park entertainer and a nurse.
“We’re both underpaid, overworked and we have to do it with a smile,” he says.
That’s where a lot of his comedy comes from: A sense of humor mixed with underlying truth gained from his nursing experience.
“My humor and jokes are funny but they definitely have underlying meaning to them,” he says. “I can joke about short staffing but there are messages in there to promote change.”
His audiences, the bulk of whom work in health care, can relate.
“We laugh because it’s true,” he says. “We laugh so we don’t cry.”
After graduating from UCF, Lynch worked for the big hospital chains in Orlando before relocating to Texas. It was there, after a stressful shift in 2017, that he had a panic attack driving home. As an emotional outlet, he made a quick video.
“It was really silly,” he says. “I don’t consider myself a tech-savvy person. I never thought it would turn into some kind of career.”
But he hit a chord with healthcare workers. And his followers on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube began to grow.
“As the videos got more popular, I felt so refreshed,” he says. “It helped me so much.”
By 2019, he was performing full-time. His show at the Dr. Phillips Center is part of his “Shock Advised Tour.” He’s taking his act next to New Zealand and Australia, where he has a passionate and rowdy fan base.
“I have to step it up in Australia,” Lynch says. “I love the nurses Down Under.”
There’s one particular highlight on the upcoming visit.
“I’m playing the Sydney Opera House, which is insane to me,” he says with genuine wonder in his voice. “That definitely wasn’t on my Bingo card.”
Doing live standup took some practice and perseverance — but he laughs off a suggestion that he must have felt pressure onstage alone.
“I felt pressure as a nurse, trying to keep people alive,” he exclaims. “That’s pressure!”
He says he does miss the “teamwork” of nursing, especially now that he’s a solo act. And he didn’t mind night shifts, which for him had their “own vibe when you’re working while the world is sleeping.”
But then he thinks of another lesson countless Peter Pan meet-and-greets taught him: “I never wanted to work in pediatrics! Thanks, Disney!”
He keeps his hand in the healthcare business through advocacy efforts for nurses and educational offerings. He is the creator and host of NurseCon at Sea, an industry conference-slash-cruise, as well as the NurseCon App, which offers free continuing-education courses for nurses. He’s bringing NurseCon to Central Florida next fall as a four-night event at Universal Orlando’s Sapphire Falls resort.
Lynch also started the Banned4Life campaign opposing the FDA’s ban blood donations from gay men, a ban that was eventually lifted. His books with Bauer — “I Want To Be A Nurse When I Grow Up” and “Santa Sent to the E.R.,” about food allergies — help children better understand hospitals and the medical field.
His standup shows get loud, he says, and unlike his books are most definitely not for children because of his “bad mouth.” But he says you don’t necessarily need a nursing degree to appreciate the comedy.
“You probably know someone in health care or dated someone in health care — and I’m sorry because we’re a disaster,” he cracks.
You do, however, need to understand that people who regularly experience death in their line of work have a particular sense of humor to help them cope.
“Our humor is dark, our humor is inappropriate,” he says, calling his show “a safe space to laugh at things that people think you’re not supposed to laugh at.”
‘Nurse Blake: Shock Advised Tour’
- When: 8 p.m. Dec. 11
- Where: Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando
- Cost: $39.50 and up
- Info: drphillipscenter.org
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at [email protected]. Find more arts news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/arts, and go to orlandosentinel.com/theater for theater news and reviews.