Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

This is Michael Shafar’s show about surviving testicular cancer.

But even though it advanced to stage 3 - and 50/50 is the chances he was once given for survival – don’t go expecting a story wrought with emotion. 

He’s a comic in the strongest club tradition who uses his experiences as fodder for short, sharp gags. Joking about things is a coping mechanism that’s in his DNA, keeps things light.

Not every punchline is necessarily sophisticated. There are dick jokes aplenty, quips about the ketamine he was on, and the mockery of pat phrases such as ‘live each day as if it’s your last’ are mocked. Other comics have deconstructed some of these before (indeed Des Bishop has done a show about his testicular cancer before), but this is Shafar’s story and the routines fit it well.

Some of the strongest material comes from his pointed reactions to the dumb – often well-meaning – things that people say to him, such as calling him ‘brave’, or his devout Jewish relatives promising to ‘pray for him’, a committed atheist.

Neither the seriousness of his condition nor the tolls of his chemotherapy are emphasised, Instead, the potential darkness behind the jokes is underplayed, even though you can never expel it from your mind, which gives even relatively innocuous punchlines an edge.

Shafar, a writer on The Project, slips in a few social comments, with sideswipes at anti-vaxxers or those who advocate alternative therapies, as well as smokers who persist knowing the dangers. Again, nothing wildly original, but done well.

It’s all told with a relaxed demeanour that fits his jokey tone, while  Shafar’s admirable gag discipline maintains the momentum, ensuring the story whizzes past in a blur of solid punchlines.

Review date: 11 Apr 2019
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Melbourne International Comedy Festival