Comedy                                                             by Luke Ryan                                             Soba Stadium, Noodle Palace           February 19 

Credit to the Fringe creators: calling a TAFE lecture theatre a “stadium” does make the approaching semester more bearable, possibly even awesome; gives it some kick-ass KA-POW. However, I doubt my future experiences in lecture theatres will be as hilarious as the spectacle I witnessed tonight.

When I saw Luke Ryan’s comedy posted in the Fringe Guide over a month ago, I was curious to see how someone would tackle the topic of cancer in a comedy. In 2012 there were three people in my life simultaneously battling cancer, and while they’ve won their fight, I can’t imagine any of them using their unfortunate genetic whoopsie as the basis of a joke, let alone a whole show.

That’s what Luke Ryan does.

He begins with his nurse mother and doctor father diagnosing him with laziness, before it was discovered he had a substantial growth behind he left knee. Initially Luke thought battling cancer was going to be a piece of cake; an eleven year old spending a whole year at home playing Nintendo 64. It was going to be awesome. But unfortunately, he was wrong, and informed us of gruelling side effects of chemo and radiotherapy in the 90s.

Fast forward eleven years later, and Luke faces the same obstacle, with the tumour now in his lung. Instead of using the Nintendo 64 as his solace, he uses the outgoing life of a 22 year old to get through. After an awkward sperm sample and the possibility of an amputated arm, Luke beats cancer a second time and celebrates with a one night stand, which leads to a very problematic toilet incident. Take the worst toilet story you’ve ever heard and times it by ten. That’s how bad Luke’s toilet incident was. What a way to celebrate being cancer free.

While the topic might seem morbid, I can assure you, Ryan does a complete 180 with it. Still not convinced? He plays a video of a four year old being chased by cute puppies, how much happier could it get?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo is running until Saturday 21st February. Check it out in the Fringe Guide here.