Jacob Sharpe has a very unique spin on comedy. As a brain cancer survivor, he has taken a disease which many see as a curse and turned it into not only a blessing for himself but for others.
His comic material shines a light on his illness, the treatment he went through and how he coped with the difficulties of cancer.
Jacob makes a joke out of all aspects of dealing with the disease, from the moment he was diagnosed with a stage two brain tumor, the mundanities of chemotherapy and how people react to you when you are sick.
His dark take on his experience has garnered the comedian hundreds of thousands of fans.
Jacob has performed sell-out shows in his native Canada at Yuk Yuks and The Comedy Bar in Toronto.
Jacob says he first realized he could turn his cancer journey into the butt of his jokes after seeing the American comedian and actress Tig Notaro, who talks about her breast cancer battle in her sets.
He recalls: “I was so inspired by that. I thought, ‘ wow, there’s a true power over the disease when you get to make people laugh about it. It’s a big trope, but it is shining a light in the dark and makes the boogeyman of cancer a lot less scary when you can laugh at it.”
Jacob was diagnosed as the global pandemic took hold in 2020. Aged 25, he had been looking forward to getting in shape and working on his health during the lockdown. But within a matter of weeks of starting his fitness regime, Jacob was crippled with debilitating headaches and struggling to speak.
After three visits to the hospital, he was in triage and passed out. A biopsy revealed he had a grape-sized tumor on his pineal gland at the bottom of his brainstem. The positioning meant he was suffering from a series of mini-strokes which could have killed him
Jacob says: “I’m not going to try and hide the fact that it was the scariest time of my life. It was horrific. I was told that I should have been dead. But I’m not going to shy away from that.
“I’m also not going to live my life completely in fear. And I’m not going to live the rest of my life wallowing in the fact that I had this thing. I want to make sure that I can at least help people who are dealing with something similar.”
He acknowledges that joking about his illness has made him stand out and also provokes an interesting reaction in his audience: “I try to talk about the mundane part of cancer because everyone says, ‘Oh, it’s such a battle and you’re such a warrior.’
“Usually I respond, ‘not really I just had diarrhoea for four days in a row and I was in and out of the hospital and looked like a thumb because I had no hair. At the time, I didn’t really feel super brave. I was just trying to stay alive.’”
Jacob says he has had some people come and ask him if he is happy he had cancer as if it has been a gift that has helped him excel as a comedian: “I said, ‘well, we’re no longer friends anymore but yes in a way as I can now make it a talking point.’ I joked, ‘yeah, that’s why I got it so I had more stuff to talk about!’
“But I’m realistic – I know it makes my set unique because of how candid I am about it. I want to create a positive rhetoric towards cancer.”
Jacob is currently is in remission after having radiation and chemotherapy treatment.
His Youtube skits are regularly viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, and recently he did a much-lauded tour in the US, playing to full houses at Zanies in Nashville, The Chicago Theatre and The Wilbur Theatre in Boston.
Jacob says: “I’m trying to talk about my cancer to open up the avenue of talking about death. It may sound macabre, but let’s be honest, the one thing you’re guaranteed in life, is death.
“Possibly I talk about it so much because of my fear of death. I know we all have that fear, but I think I’m trying to open up the conversation and normalize it for myself because I’ve had someone say to me I should be dead!”
Jacob has also used his cancer experience to give back, working closely as a mentor and panelist with the charity Young Adult Cancer.
He has also hosted an open mike event for the Stupid Cancer charity, sharing his story and judging the talent.
Avni Amin, Program & Community Coordinator at Stupid Cancer, says: “This community is very isolated and experiences challenges that other patient populations do not. Jacob’s experience is representative of our entire community.
“He was eager, supportive, friendly and was able to provide unique and informative advice. Jacob had shared experiences of loss of identity.”
Dean Hebscher has toured with Jacob and witnessed how much of an impact being open about his cancer battle has on the audience: Sometimes when we have gone back to our bus after a show there are fans waiting. Jacob is always the last one on the bus because he’s talking to someone who has had an experience with cancer. I think it is definitely a cathartic conversation, stemming from everyone’s experience with the disease.”
Dean adds: “I say this because Jacob agrees, his illness and how he draws on it in his material, it did it really it made him a lot funnier, not in a morbid way, or a bleak way, but he uses it with purpose. I just know I’ve never seen someone get funnier after almost dying!”
Trauma therapist Dr James Patel says: “Making trauma funny is not about making light of people’s suffering, but about creating a space where people can come together and share their experiences in a way that feels safe and supportive. When we can find humor in our pain, we can begin to heal and move forward in a positive direction.”
Clinical Psychologist Dr. Emily Chan adds: When used appropriately, humor can be a powerful tool for helping people to cope with traumatic experiences and find meaning in their struggles.”