When comedian Julia Sweeney and her brother both got cancer, she decided to tell the story the best way she knew how: in a comedy club. It might seem like a strange choice, but what resulted is halfway between standup comedy and true-life diary entries.
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Julia's Brother Gets Cancer
Julia talks about her brother Michael's cancer. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, stage four. He had no insurance. Julia took care of him, and he and her parents moved into her house to be near a cancer treatment center. (25 minutes)
Julia Gets Cancer
In the second half of the show, she talks about her own cancer — cervical cancer that was diagnosed six months after her brother got sick. Julia eventually turned some of these vignettes into a one-woman show called God Said, Ha!, which Quentin Tarantino made into a movie and Julia released as a book. The comedy club where she performed, Un-Cabaret, is devoted to getting very funny people to tell unusually honest stories. Julia's latest one-woman show is called Letting Go of God, excerpts of which are heard in our episode Godless America. (25 minutes)
Related
Act Two: The Invention of Cheese
Act Three: I Found Your Letter
Act One: Promise Keeper Cat
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