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Fighting cancer: Laughter is good medicine, chemo is better

4 February, 2022 . 0

Being able to laugh helped comedian Michael Shafar through his cancer battle. On World Cancer Day, he shares his story.

In May 2020, just as Melbourne was heading into another extended lockdown, I went in for my regular CT scan.

At the time, I’d been in remission from testicular cancer for almost two years, so I was feeling pretty good.

I wasn’t expecting to get a call from my oncologist the next day to tell me that the cancer was regrowing in my abdomen, so I’d have to go in for further treatment.

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What’s harder? Cancer in a pandemic or home-schooling?

I spent the remainder of 2020 going through surgery and chemo to treat the recurrence.

I don’t like to complain, but I guess I probably had a rougher year than most.

I say most because some people had to home-school their kids, which is objectively harder than a cancer diagnosis.

When people get cancer, mostly their reaction is: “I’m going to beat this.”

But, when parents find out they have to teach Jayden algebra, mostly their reaction is: “End this now.”

World class cancer care

The good news is that the course of high-dose chemotherapy treatment I went through in 2020 at Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre seems to have done the trick so, don’t worry, this article isn’t my Make A Wish.

I say “seems” because I still need one more year of clear tests before my oncologist can say for certain that I’m good to go.

It’s obviously very stressful going in for these scans every three months and dealing with that nagging, anxious voice at the back of my head: “Is it back again?”

But, there is a beauty to that too; it forces me to be more present in my life because every three months my world could be turned upside down once again.

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Finding the upside of cancer

I also feel grateful that, as a comedian, I’ve basically been conditioned to laugh at all the bad things that happen to me and use them for material.

Yes, I lost a testicle, but the upside is that I finally feel comfortable in my skinny jeans.

I always thought my jeans were too tight, but it turns out that I just had one too many testicles.

If I lose the other one, I might be able to finally wear jeggings.

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Getting the show back on the road

On the opening night of the 2021 Melbourne Comedy Festival my oncologist and the nurses who treated me came to my show.

It was easily the most special show of my career.

Not just because the material really resonated with them, but because they got to see me as a comedian, not just a patient. It felt like I’d reclaimed my identity.

Pleasing the critics

The best review I’ve ever received was the one I got from my oncologist the next day.

He sent me an email that just said: “Great show, Michael. You were well worth the chemo!”

The chemo has still been the best medicine for me, but the laughter has definitely helped too.

Michael Shafar will be touring his new show, The Return of Shafar, to every state and territory this year (except WA), including at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (March 30-April 24).

Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or TikTok to stay in the loop.

Closing the cancer care gap

February 4 is World Cancer Day, and the 2022 campaign is focusing on closing the care gap around the globe.

Where a person lives, their level of education and income, as well as ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, and lifestyle are factors that can impact the cancer care they receive.