Finding humour from a tumour...

The time when making a comedy show about cancer might have been taboo has long passed. When Andre Vincent dedicated his 2002 Edinburgh show to the 7lb kidney tumour he had removed, it was considered groundbreaking.  But as one in two Brits will be diagnosed with some form of cancer – and given the diagnosis and treatment such a major part of anyone’s life – it was inevitable the topic would increasingly come out into the open and be destigmatised. Here are ten comics talking about the subject this Fringe…

1. Rhod ​Gilbert

The most high-profile survivor at the festival, Gilbert has recently returned to the stage following treatment for head and neck cancer. He’s previously said he wanted to talk about it on stage, saying earlier this year: ‘The cancer is on my mind 24/7, but… there is humour in there, definitely.’ And his sold-out work-in-progress shows at the Fringe tease ‘some dark but funny shit’

Gilded Balloon Teviot 20:45, August 21 to 27 

2. Bee Babylon: Cancer Culture 

Scottish based Bee Babylon – or Bylgja Babýlons to give her real Icelandic name – talks about surviving stage 2 cervical cancer. in her first hour-long show, covering ‘hair loss in unexpected places, failed attempts at becoming spiritual and her not-so-graceful existence as a cancer survivor’.

The Stand  4, 17:25

3. Michael Shafar – Well Worth the Chemo 

The Australian, Jewish comic was diagnosed with testicular cancer in October 2017, and continued working through his treatment, doing stand-up gigs and working as a writer on topical TV show The Project. In an interview with the Healthy Male website he said: ‘I was a bit hesitant to discuss my experience during stand-up, at first. I thought that it would be a bit too heavy to talk about cancer in stand-up comedy. But surprisingly it's actually probably been my strongest material, to be honest. I'm somewhat vulnerable when I'm talking about that stuff on stage, audiences do appreciate that. I don't think cancer is taboo anymore. It's just so common and there's so many awareness campaigns. People are totally fine hearing it in the context of comedy, which is really great because maybe a while ago, people might've been very tense about it. But particularly with the next generation coming through, they're a bit more open to hearing challenging stories and that's really good.’

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19:45

4. 1 Ball Show: 1 Lung Less 

Why settle for one cancer when you can have two? In this show New York comedian  Terence Hartnett talks about how his  testicular cancer spread to his lung. ‘Chemo sucks and losing a lung sucks,’ he says. ‘But if you can't laugh, you might as well be dead already.’ He’s also crowdfunding to make a film about his experiences.
Just the Tonic at The Mash House 15:30

5. Four Big Cs 

Simon Hall – who only started performing comedy in 2020 – presents his debut show covering  comedy, Covid, cancer and some complete and utter c*nts!

Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 (Upstairs), 17:15, August 15 to 27

6. Tom GK: Chemodian 

Tom GK – the former Daily Telegraph music critic turned comedian who as behind the 2019 show  Hearing Loss: The Musical – shouldn’t really be on this list, because although he’s ‘proud custodian of literally dozens of tumours’, they are non-cancerous. Although with this show discussing  a decade of treatment on the chemotherapy ward at Guy's Hospital, many experiences will overlap.

Underbelly, Bristo Square, 17:45

7. How to Write a Eulogy That Kills 

Some of the shows come not directly from survivors, but those who care for them. In this one, Angela Beevers, a producer on Silicon Valley and Beavis and Butt-head talks about how her life changed when she became a caregiver following her  her mother’s stage 4 cancer diagnosis. And, after that, the challenge of  writing a traditional eulogy that could celebrate the well-lived life of a belly-dancing, beekeeping, honky-tonk fiddler and professional psychic

Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 23:00

8. An Asian Queer Story: Coming Out to Dead People 

US comedian Ricky Sim also talks about his mother’s cancer diagnosis – and specifically whether he should come out as gay to her, as a traditional Chinese-Malaysian mother, while she is dealing with that

 Just the Tonic at The Mash House, 13:55

9 Dead Inside 

Jane Japes promises a rollercoaster ride about her experiences of reluctantly joining what she calls ‘the breast cancer community’. It  covers things that made her laugh and cry – as well as suicidal thoughts, which is surely why the Brighton Fringe performance of this show came with the trigger warning ‘not recommended for anyone newly diagnosed with cancer’. However, she will also  share how she thinks we can help people who are dealing with a diagnosis, or just struggling to survive.

TheSpace @ Surgeons Hall, 13:55 August 21 to 26.

10. Sex, Art and the Art of Survival 

A Ukrainian-Russian former art historian, Helen Prior tells her story of taking up comedy in 2021, at the age of 65, after ‘a serious brush’ with cancer prompted her to take on new adventures. That included learning to fly, travelling to the North Pole on an atomic icebreaker and becoming a ballroom dancing champion But comedy  had something special. ‘It became a great substitute for everything women my age can be missing in life,’ she said. ‘Attention, love and purpose.’

Frankenstein Pub, 12:00, August 21 to 28. 

Published: 23 Jul 2023