Local comedian Pat McGann performed his stand-up act Wednesday at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in honor of National Nurses Week.

McGann, of Chicago’s Beverly community, gave the nurses at the hospital something to laugh about with his relatable and lighthearted jokes.

“What did you guys do to come down here today? Give your patients a sedative?” he said.

For McGann, the importance of nurses’ work hits all too close to home. His 1-year-old son, Elliot, was diagnosed with leukemia in November.

“I talk about my life a lot in my act, so it’s been a little difficult to make light of it,” McGann said.

He said the nurses at Christ Medical Center have gone above and beyond in helping him and his family during a difficult time, so he wanted to give something back to them by performing during National Nurses Week, which began Wednesday and runs through Tuesday.

“I can’t tell you how much I respect and appreciate what you do here every day,” he said to the crowd of nurses in the hospital’s auditorium. “It blows my mind.”

Dr. Rebecca McFall is among the many hospital staffers who have worked closely with the McGann family.

“As a pediatrician, we not only work with the kids but with the parents as well, and Pat and his wife, Sarah, are exactly what a physician wants. They are smart and caring people,” she said.

McFall said she had seen McGann only as a concerned and loving father, so she had no idea he was a comedian when she met him.

“I looked him up on YouTube and he was hilarious,” she said. “It’s cool to see how he has incorporated his experience here into his act.”

Although he interacts with the nurses at the hospital on a regular basis, McGann said he had some pre-show butterflies about performing in front of them.

“(The nurses) see me in a different light, so I was a little nervous to have them see my sarcastic, joking side,” he said.

The comedian, who has been featured on David Letterman’s shows twice, still prefers the local gigs.

“It’s kind of funny to be on Letterman and then be back at a high school gym auditorium poking fun at Chicago stereotypes,” he said.

[Via: The Daily Southtown]