Watching Kesha Carter Take Flight With Diabetes and Comedy
Comedian Kesha Carter.
Key takeaways:
- Type 1 diabetes advocate Kesha Carter is a creator known for highlighting the nuances and complexities of diabetes with humor.
- Carter has also become a rising star in stand-up comedy, often drawing from diabetes obstacles as well as her career as a flight attendant.
- See more of Carter’s work at @instakeesh on social media and in diaTribe’s Spoonful of Laughter campaign.
Kesha Carter isn’t your average flight attendant. After being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 24 years ago at the age of nine, she spent many years just trying to learn how to manage the nuances and complexities of diabetes while also balancing life, family, her career as a flight attendant, and now also being a burgeoning stand-up comedian.
Growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas, Carter’s diagnosis initially came as a shock. Neither type 1 nor type 2 diabetes ran in her family, so when some of the signs and symptoms of diabetes began showing up – including bed-wetting and a strange (and very strong) craving for milk – they didn’t initially pay much attention to it.
However, when Carter wasn’t eating much at a family barbecue over Labor Day weekend and began to look as though all the energy had been sucked out of her, her mom rushed her to the emergency room where her glucose levels were soaring to dangerously high levels. She began throwing up in the hospital, and remembers how it was at that moment that she blacked out, slipping into a coma for 24 hours.
Thankfully, she was able to get the care she needed and looking back on that time she still has a sense of humor around the experience.
“I remember waking up [in the hospital], and [the healthcare team] told me I couldn’t eat anything for 24 hours except ice chips. I was the angriest kid in the world,” she recalled with a laugh.
Since that moment, she hasn’t had to return to the hospital for diabetes. For many, being diagnosed so young can be difficult and even isolating, but Carter found ways to adapt and even use diabetes to her advantage.
“I was always vocal about it,” said Carter, who grew up participating in sports, from dancing to softball to cheerleading.
“If I wanted to get out of running, I’d say, ‘I’m going to sit here and eat this apple because I have diabetes,’” she joked.
To this day, she continues to find humor in her diabetes experiences, but having diabetes is not the only thing that informs her comedy.
The flight attendant life
One of the main experiences she draws from in her stand-up routines is her career as a flight attendant. Something that also presents a few obstacles for someone with diabetes.
“The biggest challenge I face in my day-to-day life is a sharp corner on the plane,” she said with a laugh. “ If I turn the corner wrong and hit my CGM or insulin pump, knocking it off, baby it’s out of there.”
She also described how frustrating it can be when passengers reach out and touch her or her diabetes devices without her permission. Something that is all too common on flights where people don’t realize the flight attendant’s main job is to protect you in an emergency – not just get you a bag of pretzels.
Despite these few challenges though, Carter has also had really touching moments when a passenger has recognized her diabetes devices on a flight, sparking a special connection.
“It’s like seeing a diabuddy in the wild,” she said. “That’s one of my favorite parts.”
Finding comedy and her voice
Carter is also starting to build a name for herself as a stand-up comedian with a real talent for storytelling, but her first foray into this space wasn’t exactly intentional.
“Me doing comedy was completely an accident!” she said.
Bored during a layover, she began recording funny videos for social media. Donning a cheap blue wig and a scarf, she created a smart-talking flight attendant character that quickly went viral.
What first began as a spontaneous creative outlet online quickly joined her passion for performing, and she found herself starting to do stand-up comedy.
Carter’s first real show was at an improv theater in LA during an open mic night. She invited some of the other flight attendants who were there with her on a layover, and had an amazing time performing that night.
“That's when I was like, ‘You know what? I actually belong here,’” she said. “This is my arena. I’m really good at this.”
Now she does stand-up regularly, and she incorporates her experiences as a flight attendant and someone living with diabetes seamlessly into her routines. It’s one of the main reasons she became a core part of diaTribe’s Spoonful of Laughter campaign, which uses comedy to educate people about diabetes and challenge stereotypes and stigma.
The six videos that form the bulk of the campaign heavily feature Carter, who navigates an uncomfortable first date, deals with a stranger who simply doesn’t “get” diabetes, and delivers a hilarious stand-up performance.
A positive example in the diabetes community
Beyond her comedy, Carter is also an advocate for greater representation of people of color in diabetes spaces. And her passion for this is rooted in her own experiences growing up as a young black woman with type 1 diabetes.
“For years I didn’t meet any other children with diabetes,” she said. It wasn’t until high school, when she realized that her low snacks in the nurse’s office kept mysteriously disappearing, that she realized there was another student, a football player, who also had diabetes and she was not alone.
Now she tries her best to make sure that others don’t feel as isolated. And one of the opportunities that allows her the ability to do that is working for the diabetes device company Dexcom in her role as a Dexcom Warrior. Being a part of these campaigns gives young people of color the chance to see themselves reflected in mainstream diabetes media and advertising.
“One of my main goals is making sure people of color have someone they can point to as a positive example,” she says. “There are so many faces like mine, and I love that [my work with] Dexcom allows me to reach my community in this way.”
Looking ahead
For now, Carter is continuing to build her platform, advocate for people with diabetes, and hone her comedy skills.
“I’m excited to see the reactions to the stand-up clips,” she said, reflecting on her work with the campaign. “We basically developed a whole diabetes comedy special in two days, and I’m proud of what we created.”
Be sure to follow Carter on social media @instakeesh and check out her contributions to the Spoonful of Laughter movement.
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