Learning Through Laughter: Educational Event Mixed Cancer and Comedy

Comedy and cancer don’t normally mix, but Mack Dryden is ready to change that.

The two-time cancer survivor will be speaking at Learning through Laughter, an event put on by Providence Regional Cancer System and Centralia Rotary.

The comedian has survived both testicular cancer and a malignant melanoma on the back of his eye, finding that humor is a great medicine when dealing with life’s obstacles.

“When I got diagnosed with my first bout with cancer it was over 30 years ago, but the healing power of laughter had already been firmly established,” Dryden told The Chronicle. “I thought I would be the dumbest comedian on Earth if I didn’t get as many laughs out of this as possible.”

Dryden, who has been on “The Tonight Show” numerous times, and has landed other acting roles in “The Guardian” and “Saved By the Bell,” said during his fight against cancer he found he was not the only one who needed some humor in his life. 

He started getting as many laughs as he could from his caregivers and doctors as they treated him and helped him through his journey.

“To me, it makes all the sense in the world to keep a sense of humor and a positive attitude when you’re going through any kind of challenging ordeal,” Dryden said. “I just can’t think of a single situation where no sense of humor and a negative attitude help, and so I mean here I was fighting for my life … and I thought that (humor) would help. It cheered up the people around me and made me better.”

Dryden who has coined himself as the “funniest two-time survivor in the country,” will focus not only on his battles with cancer, but will also speak about a time he was imprisoned in Morocco while traveling shortly after grad school. His most popular keynote speech, which he will present at the event, is known as “Laugh to the Top: A Hilarious Guide to Achieving Your Goals.”

The event aims to provide laughs, but it’s also a time to learn more about the advancing health care field. 

“The event will not only be inspirational and funny, but also educational,” Chris Thomas, marketing and communication manager of Providence Southwest region, said, adding that people can learn a lot about the medical opportunities available locally. “People are learning more and more you have to be your own health care advocate … anything we can do to help inform people about medical opportunities locally is really beneficial to them.”

Along with educational booths and two Providence service providers who will speak, a replica of the da Vinci robot will be on display, allowing people to operate the machine and see demonstrations on how it works. 

The surgical robot is a new tool for fighting cancer.

“I would just urge everybody in the area to come out and see what promises to be a wonderful event and I guarantee that I’m going to hurt them laughing,” Dryden said.

The event is the third annual educational series of its kind, and was formally known as Men’s Night Out. The event was created with the help of Arnie Guenther, a survivor of prostate cancer. The da Vinci robot operated on Guenther after he was diagnosed, and Thomas said the event has now “come full circle” with the robot now available locally for services.

“He had to go out of the area for the type of surgery he chose, and now three years later he gets to promote that people don’t have to travel for these services,” he said. 

This year it will have a heavier focus on women’s issue than in the past, Thomas said.