The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is a world of a thousand of stories. But not many of those storytellers are bold enough to juxtapose cancer and comedy and make it work.
Dr Jo Prendergast’s show Cancer and Cartwheels comes with a fascinating pedigree. She’s not solely a comedian. She’s not solely a woman with lived experience of breast cancer. She’s also, would you believe, a medical doctor. And, no, she didn’t diagnose herself, but she certainly recognised the signs. “I knew before I was given the diagnosis that I had cancer … as soon as I found a lump in my boob and my armpit. Being a doctor, I knew very clearly that you don’t have lumps in both those places without it being sinister.”
And having had the benefit of finding her cancer herself, Prendergast now wants to help as many people as she can also spot those early signs, and potentially save some lives. But why not make them laugh while she’s doing it?
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Prendergast was the classic young performer whose parents warmly encouraged her towards the latter option when she suggested either drama school or medical school.
Prendergast attended Otago Medical School, trained as a psychiatrist in Sydney and then worked for more than two decades as a medical specialist. As her children grew older, she became more involved in the performing arts but stand-up wasn’t immediately on her radar.
“I met a comedy producer on a TV pilot film set who suggested I try stand-up comedy. And I said, ‘No way’ … because it looked terrifying. And then a matter of a few weeks later, I was doing my first stand-up comedy set.
“He was very persuasive,” she laughs.
“That’s my goal, that people go away entertained and educated.”
Her first solo show, The Cool Mum, was in 2020 and revolved around parenting teenagers. A year later she received her cancer diagnosis. Clearly a woman who likes to face challenges not just head-on, but with arms and eyes wide open, she sat down and wrote a book about teenage mental health (“through the lens of a psychiatrist, comedian, parent combo”) and then, as she was going through her treatment, wrote Cancer and Cartwheels.
“I’m definitely a ‘when the going gets tough, do projects’, kind of person. I needed to find a sense of purpose for it. Because, even when the oncologist said, ‘Yes, I think you should have chemo,’ I thought, ‘OK, that’s bad. But the upside is … I’ll be able to share the experience of chemo.’
“By the end of my cancer treatment, I had something like an 80,000-word manuscript,” she recalls. It was prime fodder to turn into a comedy show and also aligned with a changed focus for Prendergast.
“I made a decision that I wanted to do more meaningful comedy. Because in my first show, I did it under a stage name, Jo Ghastly, and it was basically a kind of ghastly, insightless version of myself, taking parenting to an extreme level.
“I wanted to do much more authentic comedy about my story and experiences, and also not hide from the fact that I was a doctor,” she says.
“What I’m trying to find are the kind of silly, absurd and humorous things in my experiences of having cancer, and particularly the changes in my body from cancer treatment,” she says.
For instance? “I’ve got one boob that’s a perky B cup and another boob that’s a semi flaccid D. Asymmetrical boobs could be devastating. Or else, I could go, that’s a Millennial boob and a Boomer boob…”
Prendergast is definitely not trying to tell anyone that cancer itself or having it is funny. “That’s certainly not the vibe of the show,” she explains. “It’s very much my story… [but] I can really lean into the absurdity of some of the things that happen.”
At the same time, she is aware that sometimes the best way to get important information across is to deliver it with humour.
“There’s some very real health messaging through the show. It is a rich tapestry experience, where you’ve got health messaging, real stuff, my story … and then absurd skits, and also some songs!” For Prendergast, it’s also important to give back to the breast cancer community and those in support roles. “One of the things that I really wanted to do with the show was to make it very accessible for people who had lived experience of breast cancer… And so I’ve linked up with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA), which does lots of support and advocacy for people with breast cancer, and very much a ‘whole person’ breast cancer approach that I really love. So I’m doing ticket giveaways to the BCNA’s network.”
Cancer and Cartwheels is touring nationally and in New Zealand, Adelaide Fringe 11-15 March, Melbourne International Comedy Festival 31 March – 6 April, Sydney Comedy Festival 26 April, New Zealand International Comedy Festival Wellington 10 May, Auckland 24 May, Brisbane Comedy Festival 17-18 May. For further information.
