Comedian Michelle Dobrawsky, who launched a campaign last year to get the South Park character Mr. Hanky to become the official rectal cancer spokesperson, succumbed to the disease on Aug. 30.
“We lost an amazing woman, wrote Glennis McCarthy, founder and editor of TheGloc.net. “Michelle Dobrawsky was, among many other things, a comedian, a lawyer, a fierce supporter of women in comedy, and an all around wonderful person. In her early 40s she lost her battle with rectal cancer. To say the news was shocking would not do justice to the state I and many others are in. I think we all assumed she would soon recover to return to the scene as the ballsy, badass comic we knew and loved. How can someone so fierce and full of life be gone? I am still trying to process the loss.”
The New York City-based comic tackled her disease head on, regularly writing about her experiences with cancer online. Last year, we reported on an entry she wrote for her Bizarro Patient Zero blog. In it, she asked South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to consider licensing Mr. Hankey as the official “spokesturd” for rectal cancer. She wrote, in part:
I propose promoting and licensing Mr. Hankey as the official ambassador for rectal cancer. I can’t think of a more appropriate spokesturd. As a rectal cancer patient, I spend a lot of time focusing on that particular area, and its particular output. And to generate, painlessly, productively and naturally, a perfect Mr. Hankey, is the goal of my treatment. (That, and not dying.)
Her last written entry (from July 20) is titled “Cancer Tired,” and is seen below:
Cancer tired is not normal tired. Cancer tired is having a more or less wide-awake brain, watching your body glue itself to the sofa incapable of movement. It’s being frantic about all you want or need to do while the rest of you wants to buy sneakers on QVC. It’s just all wrong.
As news of her death spread, fellow comics and loved ones took to Facebook and Twitter to express their grief. Comedian Dave Attell tweeted, “Sending thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of comedian Michelle Dobrawsky.” Laughspin would also like to send our thoughts to Michelle’s family and friends, especially those within the comedy community. We’ve dropped a video of Michelle performing in November of 2010. Please check it out.
For more on Michelle, check out The Gloc’s tribute page.
