This Musical Comedy Is the Laughter All Survivors Need: Folk Duo Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer Find Humor in Marxer’s Cancer Journey With ‘All Wigged Out’

“Marcy Marxer is a GRAMMY® winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who takes us on her expedition through Breast Cancer and neuropathy caused by Chemotherapy, tempered by her wacky sense of humor and ability to make the personal universal,” a description of the musical on the Cathy Fink & Marcy MarxerCathy Fink & Marcy Marxer website reads.

“Her musical and life partner, Cathy Fink is Marcy’s advocate in the doctors’ offices, her number one fan and bandleader in the show with Stacy McMichael on bass and Janet Cramer on drums. Cathy also plays the mammogram technician, Cindy at the Wig Shop and Marcy’s mother.”

Marxer says her favorite line in the musical comes from a song called “Car Wash”:

“For me, cancer is a lot more like being dragged through a car wash.”

Her favorite song happens to be one she wrote with Fink “Two Peas in A Pod.”

“It's easy for me to collaborate with Cathy,” Marxer told SurvivorNet. “A writer needs to be able to totally trust a collaborator.”

Marcy Marxer and Cathy Fink’s Cancer Battle

Marcy Marxer was 58 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her disease was caught after a regular mammogram, and she tells SurvivorNet she “had no symptoms at all” prior to the diagnosis.

Thankfully, Marxer had Cathy Fink by her side every step of the way.

“Cathy, friends and listening to music kept me going through treatment,” she said. “Cathy kept a close watch over me. She was my guardian, my clarifier with the doctors, my confidant and encourager. I don't think I could have made it through without her.”

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Now, the tables have unfortunately turned as Fink faces her own battle with the disease as of mere months ago.

“We are living in a little chapter that we’re calling ‘The Irony and the Ecstasy,'” Fink recently told NPR’s Leila Fadel. “I’m working with our team that’s promoting ‘All Wigged Out,’ partially from my chemo chair.”

Marxer says humor will likely be crucial in Fink’s journey ahead. As for her advice to other cancer warriors, she says, “share your diagnosis if and only if you want to” and “take it one day, hour or minute at a time.”

“Cancer is not a death sentence,” Marx told SurvivorNet. “Make the best decisions you can with the information you have each day. If the info changes, make your next best decisions. Repeat as needed.”

Finding Humor in Cancer

There’s nothing inherently funny about cancer. But, as we saw with Marcy Marxer’s story, humor can be used to help process everything you’re going through.

Hodgkin lymphoma survivor Chelsey Gomez found comfort in humor, too. Her cancer relapsed just a year after her initial diagnosis, and she was then fired from her job. Distraught and confused, the hard worker took some time to let everything sink in before deciding to share a funny but blunt TikTok  about the experience.

That video went viral, and led Gomez to create and sell humorous stickers centered around the topic of cancer.

Woman Fired After Cancer Relapse Gets Real About How Hard Cancer Can Be With Bluntly Humorous Art

"I was sick and tired of seeing only cancer products that said, you're strong, you're so brave, you're amazing," she said. "The first product I ever made was 'my lymph nodes are an asshole' because that's how I felt about them.

"Like, my lymph nodes have caused me cancer twice. They're supposed to be nice for everyone else, but mine are an asshole."

Breast cancer survivor and comedian Jenny Saldana also found humor in her cancer experience. She even jokes, "if it wasn't for cancer [she'd] suck at comedy" because her parents love her.

MORE: Jenny Saldana Found Humor in Her Cancer Journey, And Turned it into a "Dramedy"

Similar to Marxer, she decided to write a play about her cancer journey while on bed rest following reconstruction.

"The play is actually a dramedy," she said. "There are a lot of funny moments in it.

"But it's about the struggle of finding your new normal, when you go through something like this."

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