Mark Steel is to talk about his throat cancer treatment in a new stand-up tour and book.
He revealed his diagnosis in October last year, after noticing that his neck seemed to be ‘much bigger than normal; when shaving.
After eventually seeking medical advice, his biopsy results got lost in the NHS. He only discovered he had cancer when he received a call to make another biopsy appointment and was told it was ‘to see what stage of cancer you have’.
The Radio 4 regular announced he had got the all-clear in May, speaking of his ‘immense relief’ following months of gruelling treatment. He said at the time: ‘I don't recommend chemotherapy or radiotherapy as recreational drugs. It is quite brutal, but you have to think this is the way they cure it - and it does.’
Both the tour and the book are entitled The Leopard In My House.
Of the live show, Steel said today: ‘This show is the story of my year, of wonderful characters and often tricky but bafflingly positive experiences. Doing the show doesn’t quite make me glad that it happened, but it definitely makes up for it quite a bit.’
The tour kicks off on February 27 in Bracknell – the same day the book is published by Ebury.
Explaining the metaphor of the title, Steel says: 'I feel like there’s a leopard in my house, locked in a room. I’ve contacted the leopard authorities and they assure me they are used to dealing with leopards like this, and they have a plan for removing the leopard. It will take a while, though, and once in a while I can hear it growl. And that’s all very reassuring. Even so, several times a day I think to myself: "Hang on, there’s a leopard in my house.'
The book is described as a 'journey into the heart of the NHS, as he embarked on the long and uncertain road to cancer recovery via a range of mildly torturous and entirely miraculous treatments. What, if anything, might he learn about himself – and our capacity for coping with life when times get tough – as he becomes part of a club that one in two British people will ultimately join?'
The publishers add that it is a 'frank and funny diary of one man’s rather trying year... an unforgettable and uplifting story of getting ill, getting on with it, and getting better.'
Meanwhile, his tour will run for 41 dates, ending on June 20 in Portsmouth. Tickets go on general sale on Friday.
Publicity for the show says: ‘The topic? His battle with throat cancer. A battle he is winning (thankfully) and which only his rapier wit could fashion a comedy tour show out of. Cancer has done nothing to dull Mark's acute political observations or quash his "frankly bonkers" energy: you will laugh, you will cry, but you'll laugh again, and again, and again.’
• The Leopard In My House by Mark Steel is publushed by Ebury on February 27, priced £22 from Amazon – or from uk.bookshop.org, below, which supports independent bookstores – for £20.90
» Mark Steel tour dates
