Stand-up comedian Bo Irvine developed a 45-minute routine entirely about diabetes that he rolls out for diabetic audiences and healthcare professionals from Hawai'i to Florida, which he calls, "Seriously, Living With Diabetes Can Be Funny."

Irvine ran the Honolulu Marathon, paddled across the Ka Iwi Channel, played racquetball regularly and spent 22 years as a federal firefighter in Hono-lulu before retiring as an assistant chief. But when he turned to stand-up comedy, a new lifestyle of eating unhealthy meals at 2 a.m. triggered the onset of type 2 diabetes nine years ago, Irvine said.

"Now," he said, "if you see me running, it means the cops are after me. And I'll ask them for a hamburger or a donut."

His underlying message is simple and serious: Exercise regularly, watch what you eat and don't become sedentary.

But Irvine relies on humor to touch on the universal challenges of fighting temptation and depression among diabetics.

"Having diabetes can get very depressing," he said. "It's important to let everybody know we're all living in the same shoes."

Irvine has been a regular keynote speaker at diabetes conventions around the country, but also is happy to bust out his diabetes jokes for public and private school children in Hawai'i.

"When you're a diabetic, you can always hear the refrigerator calling you late at night: 'Bo, come and eat. Bo, come and eat.' I have to go make sure nobody's in there but end up eating a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. My dog will look at me and say, 'I'm going to tell.' So I always give him a PB&J. Now he's a diabetic, too."

Or:

"My doctor said diabetes is in my genes," he tells audiences. "That's why I started wearing shorts."