Following a sellout 2019 season, comedian Michael Shafar returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2020 with a brand-new show.
Building on the success of his previously sold out shows Jewish-ish, Kosher Bacon and 2019’s critically acclaimed 50/50, which chronicled his diagnosis with testicular cancer, Michael is back to tell you why everything is Getting Better.
Surviving cancer and sharing that experience on stage in 50/50 really changed Shafar’s philosophy on comedy. We chat to him a little more about that…
What it is about comedy that you love?
I just love thinking of something funny and sharing it with a group of strangers to see if they agree it’s funny. A lot of the times we agree to disagree.
Tell us about your new MICF show.
It’s about how my life is Getting Better! Last year my show was about my experience being diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer, but now I’m in remission and things are great. The show is mostly about my mother, my girlfriend and bagels.
What inspired you to write comedy shows about your battle with testicular cancer?
I wanted to keep doing stand up while I was going through cancer, and I had nothing else in my life to draw upon for comedy, so I just had to find the funny things in the experience. I wouldn’t say I was ‘inspired’ to do comedy about it, I kind of just had nothing else to talk about because cancer is so all-consuming.