Originally published at: Here's Norm Macdonald's brilliant bit on cancer, a decade before it killed him | Boing Boing
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“2001 Comedy Central special” (2011)
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Norm was very, very good with the dark stuff. Exhibit B: riffing on Steve Irwin a mere 10 days after he died:
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Thank you!
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Someday I’ll be able to laugh at my cancer, I’m just no there yet. See ya Norm, I hear you’re headlining at the Comedy Club in the sky tonight…
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Norm was great!
This bit reminds me of someone recently talking about friends and well-wishers offering advice to cancer patients on how important it was to have a “positive mental attitude”. These come with an underlying unintended threat: if someone with cancer doesn’t have a good attitude, they’ll get sicker and it’s their own damn fault for being negative.
What percentage of cancer sufferers are “happy”? Let’s do the math…carry the one…zero percent. There is not a moment from the time you schedule the first visit to the doctor’s office when anyone is happy about what’s going on, except for those brief moments where you’re distracted long enough to forget about it for a little while. Then to be told “it’s important to stay positive” while you’re fighting just to keep the screams on the inside? Congratulations, you’ve just set them up for instant failure.
Cancer doesn’t care how you feel. The only real medical effects of a positive attitude are that you might show up for all your appointments on time, and that you might be slightly less inclined to drive off a cliff.
Fuck cancer.
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When the funny hurts.
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Norm was one of the funny ones. and will be missed. Remember when comedians could be funny and tell jokes??? … yeah, it was a while back.
Long time back, I was in the throes of the cisplatin-cocktail for a nasty bit of testicular cancer. they told me - “98% survival rate, but 5-ish months of really ugly chemo.”
Weekly, my mom would call and tell me about all the ladies in North East Texas praying for me.
ya know what gets ya through cancer/chemo? water, lots of water, science, friends and humor.
Once I told her - “where were all these gals praying for my balls when I was a teenager? When I NEEDED attention to my junk?”
Which was well recieved, and even got me a “we are praying for your balls” knit cap.
cancer sucks - forwarding goddamn chain mail on facebook to “raise awareness” does nothing.
Donating to the American Cancer Society for research? that helps
or even better - helpiing people helping families… this is my latest fave
money - TO families, when they need help
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‘Hey, he lost his battle.’ Unfortunately, that comment also seems to take the weight off of oncologists.
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Hopefully someday we win the war.
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