MICHAEL SHAFAR – 110%
Neither COVID nor a cancer relapse can stop Michael Shafar from returning to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival ready to give 110% just in time for Testicular Cancer Awareness Month this April.
2020 was a pretty bad year for everyone. But Michael Shafar probably had it worse than most, having to face death for the second time when he had a testicular cancer relapse, which forced him to undergo high dose chemotherapy during Melbourne’s second lockdown. He says ‘worse than most’ because some people had to home school their kids, which is objectively worse than dealing with cancer.
Now in remission and having defeated the Big C for a second time, Shafar is ready to get back on stage in his hometown with his darkest, most confronting, and funniest show yet. 2020 wasn’t just a bad year because someone ate a bat in Wuhan; Trump was dismantling democracy; racism was on the rise and Gal Gadot sang Imagine. All of these global calamities are tackled by Shafar in 110% with his trademark cutting and irreverent style.
Of course, he’s also got some hilariously personal stories to share too, expounding on the perils of skinny jeans, the power of bagels as well as awkward confrontations with an anti-Semitic boss and a notorious underworld gangster (who he can’t name here out of fear that it might land him on the next season of Underbelly).
Since leaving a career in law, Shafar has been busy justifying that decision to his Jewish mother. Having appeared on Channel 10’s The Project, ABC’s Comedy Bites, triple j’s Good Az Friday, and heaps of other radio and TV shows, he has (somewhat) achieved that – making a name for himself as one of the fastest rising stars in Australian comedy, performing internationally (well, not in 2020) and selling out shows across the country.
MANTRA ON RUSSELL, 222 RUSSELL STREET, MELBOURNE
25 MARCH – 18 APRIL, TUE-SAT 9:35PM (SUN 8:35PM)
MELBOURNE TOWN HALL
MON 5 APR 6:15PM
