When Saranne Rothberg was faced with stage IV cancer and hours of sitting in a chemo chair, she recognized that although her situation was no laughing matter, the old adage was true – laughter is the best medicine. Not one to wallow, on her first day of treatment Saranne held a “Chemo Comedy Party” for herself and others undergoing chemotherapy. Since then she has been a catalyst for comforting cancer patients and their loved ones through her Foundation, ComedyCures.
Giving Tuesday 2023 is Nov. 28, and as we launch into the season of giving, Blubrry is honored to showcase Saranne’s podcast, Beating Cancer Daily, and her mission of supporting cancer patients and their families through treatments and the healing process. It might be hard to believe when you hear the wit and ease of December Podcaster of the Month, but Saranne was hesitant to start a podcast. Now, her transformative strategies, research findings, fun, practical tips and comic insights help listeners around the world navigate their diagnosis and survivorship with humor and resilience.
“I hear people that don’t even have cancer are listening to Beating Cancer Daily because it’s playful and practical. There are great strategies, some fun research, and a comic perspective,” Saranne says. “I just meet up with you every day to encourage you to have the best life possible, laugh a bit, and help you feel supported.”
Saranne explains that she was misdiagnosed 30 years ago and wasn’t correctly diagnosed for another six years. She then underwent three surgeries, 44 radiation treatments, and more than two years of chemotherapy.
“When nothing worked, I was told to get my affairs in order, which I could not do because I was a single mom and I had sole custody of this beautiful little girl. So I had to figure out this cancer situation,” she said. “So many people from all different sectors had urged me to launch a podcast, whether they were from research or from medical or patients or caregivers, widows, survivors, they all said, ‘Please do it.’”
And so she did – daily. “This cancer experience can be really brutal. And it doesn’t hurt to have somebody right in your ear who has beaten stage IV cancer to help guide you through and sometimes just hold your hand. I wish I had Beating Cancer Daily when I was diagnosed.”
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You launched The ComedyCures Foundation from your chemo chair in 1999 to bring levity into the lives of cancer patients and survivors. How has the Foundation grown over the years and how do you measure its impact?
From my first chemo infusion, word spread about our fun interactive ComedyCures approach and programs via patients, caregivers, hospital workers, comedians and the media. Requests for our “Chemo Comedy Parties” came from all over the United States and then globally. From 1999 until today, we’ve been able to bring joy, laughter, comedy and hope to over a million people through our ComedyCures Foundation’s live and digital events. Being asked to collaborate with Harvard, Stanford, The NIH, the US Military, United Nations, World Health organization, and more has been such an honor. ComedyCures has worked with nonprofit organizations, corporate partners and institutions at more than 2,000 programs. Findings from three ground-breaking pilot research studies, surveys, referrals, program demand, awards and email testimonials have helped us gauge our impact. Our “Beating Cancer Daily” podcast has quickly spread to listeners in 42 countries in just seven months.
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In addition to Beating Cancer Daily and The ComedyCures Foundation, what other activities do you undertake to spread the word about the healing impact of humor?
Collaborations with over 300 comedians and comedy experts and more than 1,000 for-profit and nonprofit organizations have been the key to ComedyCures programs reaching many more people beyond our small nonprofit’s capacity. The ComedyCures LaughingLunch Break PSA Campaign with CBS Radio helped us bring comedy and joy to millions of listeners daily for 13 months with the humor of over 100 ComedyCures comedians. Our five-day ComedyCures Laughter Summit (April 2021) brought together 29 thought leaders in psychoneuroimmunology, joy, positivity and wellness from around the world, plus 24 ComedyCures comedians added to our laughter and learning during this innovative virtual pandemic conference. Teaching in hospitals, medical conventions, universities, schools, community centers, Fortune 500 corporations, the VA, scout troops, health fairs, orphanages, shelters, hospice, walk-a-thons, the United Nations and World Health Organization have helped ComedyCures spread therapeutic laughter.
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Can you give a couple examples of inspirational feedback you have received from individuals who listen to Beating Cancer Daily and/or those who the foundation has supported?
One of the most incredible stories just happened recently when we received a phone call from an 86 year-old nun who had cancer. She shared that she was in a convent hospital for ill nuns who were forced to retire because of illnesses, causing their spirits to plummet. They felt our ComedyCures programs would be just the thing the sisters needed to break down isolation and deliver joy, laughter and fun daily coping strategies. We have delivered two successful monthly programs to the nuns with an upcoming holiday program scheduled.
Similarly, the Red Cross asked us to come to Ground Zero to help relief workers and nearby families. Several years later, we were asked to produce the first therapeutic reunion for the families impacted by the tragedies of September 11th and then ComedyCures helped launch the first camp for children impacted by terrorism.
A patient with advanced cancer (who had attended a ComedyCures program) awarded the Foundation a research grant to study ways to improve the lives of advanced cancer patients. Our first pilot, The Mindset and Metastatic Research Study, was called “innovative and exciting” by the American Association for Cancer Research. AACR requested our abstract and we presented our study at the 2023 global conference for 24,000 oncological researchers and others. Because of that scientific success, that same cancer patient’s foundation has supported a second ComedyCures research study for patients with advanced cancer. Those findings will be released in early 2024.
One of our most moving stories is from a critical care nurse involving a dying patient who could barely speak. The nurse played our free ComedyCures LaughLine (1-888-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha) for her patient every day. One day the patient motioned that she had conceived a joke. The nurse called and recorded the patient’s humor for our LaughLine and relayed this powerful story. We repeated the story and her original joke on our LaughLine and the patient celebrated that she “was now famous” (just days before her passing) as word spread throughout the hospital about her ComedyCures LaughLine feature.
Learning that people who do not even have cancer are listening to “Beating Cancer Daily” to support themselves through their illness, depression, trauma, loss and disabilities has helped our podcast gather listeners in 42 countries. Winning many program awards over two decades and now making the top 2023 list for outstanding cancer podcasts has also spread the word about our ComedyCures power of healing.
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It appears that Beating Cancer Daily was launched in March of 2023. Since you have been a strong advocate for humanizing cancer care since 1999, what attracted you to podcasting?
Honestly, I actually resisted doing a podcast for over a decade. I’m a live-event keynote presenter, performer and producer so I couldn’t imagine myself sitting alone in a podcast booth. Now, I am obsessed with podcasting. Launching “Beating Cancer Daily” and watching it help people around the world 24/7 has been the most amazing experience. Every day for 365 days, I take patients through their diagnosis, cancer treatments, and then through survivorship. The podcast not only helps cancer patients, survivors, family members and healthcare workers, but we now know that people who just want to improve their wellness, increase their coping strategies, and laugh a little more each day are listening. As a stage IV cancer survivor, patient advocate and comedy expert, I humanize and humorize the most challenging moments of the cancer experience. Podcasting daily is one of the most intimate creative experiences that I’ve ever had.
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With topics ranging from the medical properties of food to nausea to (whether in the process of getting rid of cancer or in remission) not allowing cancer to consume or define you, where do you find the inspiration for each of your daily episodes?
As a stage IV cancer survivor and patient advocate with no visible disease (for over two decades), many of these 365 episodes come from my own cancer fighting and coping strategies which we have taught in our three groundbreaking ComedyCures research studies. I have a unique comic perspective regarding cancer. Some “Beating Cancer Daily” episodes arose from helping over a million people on six continents through our live and virtual ComedyCures Foundation’s programs. Every daily episode is different, and sometimes the episode is just a lot of fun. I call that “tumor humor,” and it’s a comedic look at how you can develop your comic perspective to get through this cancer experience. Many episodes have been inspired by patients, caregivers, comedians, researchers, quotations, questions and advice passed down by doctors, cancer elders and sages. Over 220 “Beating Cancer Daily” episodes have been distributed to date, and I am still going strong toward my 365-day goal.
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What is your scheduling process for podcasting? Do you record each day? Several at a time? And how will you approach the daily podcast over the holidays?
My favorite time to record “Beating Cancer Daily” is in the middle of the night when the East Coast is sleeping and interruptions are minimal. I usually record anywhere from one to four episodes at a time. Sometimes, a podcast idea is just so exciting that I stop a meeting and I have to rush into the podcast studio and “give birth” to the episode without any delay. Before a holiday, I have done as many as eight to 10 in one day. My podcast production company suggests that we stay 30 episodes ahead but with my speaking, consulting and travel schedules, maintaining that long lead time as a busy not-for-profit CEO has been tricky. I have recorded many episodes on the road in a carpeted hotel closet. When I feature our fellow ComedyCures survivors, Comedian Missy Hall and Functional Medicine Expert Jacqui Bryan, RN, CNS, WHE, CHC, on “Beating Cancer Daily” episodes, I have to schedule them in advance and at more reasonable hours.
Consider making a tax-deductible program donation this holiday season to help keep Beating Cancer Daily commercial-free. https://www.comedycures.org/
Refer Beating Cancer Daily to a loved one wherever you listen to podcasts.
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