“I have a few friends that have passed away from their cancer diagnosis, says Flin Flon’s Virginia Leifso. “It makes me sad, and I want to fight back.”
Three years ago, Leifso, herself a breast cancer survivor, decided to contribute to that fight with an unusual weapon: laughter.
With help from two teams from the Relay for Life cancer-fighting fundraiser, Leifso brought the travelling comedy show The Boob Tour to Flin Flon in September 2012.
LA-based comedian James Uloth started the Boob Tour six years ago as a fundraising project for cancer charities after a friend lost his mother to cancer.
“I wanted to do something to give back,” Uloth recalls.
According to Uloth, over $1 million have been raised through Boob Tour events since then, with comedy shows across North America.
Today, the project has two main goals: raise awareness and funds for breast cancer and other cancer charities, and promote comedy and the power of laughter.
The premise of the tour is simple. A group, individual or organization that wants to fundraise for a cancer charity can book a Boob Tour event in their community.
After costs are covered for the comedians’ fees, travel expenses and the production of the event, proceeds go to the charity.
The 2012 event in Flin Flon was a huge success, with audiences reporting sore cheeks from laughter, and Leifso and her team, Running Cancer Outta Town, meeting their Relay for Life fundraising goal of $5,000.
This year, the team has brought back the Boob Tour. The show will take place this Saturday, August 22 at the Creighton Community Hall at 7:30 pm. It will feature Uloth himself alongside Winnipeg comedians Mike Green and Paul Rabliasuskas.
For the 2012 show, Leifso assembled a musical group called the Cancer Crooners to open for the comedians, with a medley of songs that spoke to the experiences of cancer survivors.
The band will return for this year’s show, featuring Leifso along with Mary Wright, Elfriede Reimer and Megan Reimer.
In her bio on the Relay for Life website, Leifso recalls being diagnosed with breast cancer 21 years ago.
“I had three young children and I vowed I would see them reach adulthood and graduate from school,” she writes. “The odds in 1993 for my type of rapid-growing cancer were not in my favour, but a wise oncologist told me statistics are just numbers and you never know which side of those numbers you will be on. I have seen many positive changes in treatment and support programs over the years.”
Today, Leifso’s kids are 24, 29 and 31, and she is a proud survivor.
With help from Running Cancer Outta Town, and the Boob Tour comedians, Leifso aims to help others tell the same story.
Relay for Life is a fundraiser coordinated by the Canadian Cancer Society. Teams of volunteers across the country raise funds through a relay race and various community projects.
The Flin Flon-Creighton Relay for Life will take place at the Creighton baseball field on Saturday, September 12.
Saturday’s Boob Tour show is restricted to audience members ages 18 and up.
