cheese shop 'til you drop 1999
Dave Taranto suffered stress headaches. They used to get particularly bad around the time of the Comedy Festival in Melbourne (March-April each year). In 1999, Dave decided to get the headaches checked out. I will spare you all the initial mistakes in diagnosis and cut to the chase. Around the time of Dave's 41st birthday, Anzac Day, Dave underwent a MRI scan and was told he had an aggressive brain tumour, that it was inoperable and that he had about six months to live. Such was the beginning of the circus that is created around anyone with cancer: who do we tell? why? what treatments can we attempt? what preparations can be made for someone's death without appearing like you've given up hope? Dave underwent radiotherapy. An operation was performed to put in place a small tube to aid the drainage of fluid that was gathering around the tumour and causing Dave incredible pain.
Naturally, it was decided by Dave that the Cheese Shop should stop, at least for the time being (of course we all believed he could recover...). Janet A McLeod did an extraordinary job keeping the whole machine going through the rest of May, June and July, and those close to him decided that a tribute to Dave in the form of three huge nights of comedy would be a fitting way to wind the Shop down, and also raise some money for a yet-to-be-decided legacy in Dave's honour. Punters were asked to 'Cheese Shop 'Til You Drop'. They came in droves.
Attempts were made to gather the cream of Melbourne's comedy performers together in one place, and they too came in droves. It was a very exciting time, and it felt like it was about hope rather than sadness. Dave appeared on stage at the Pat for the last time. He named his tumour 'Tommy'. He was unabashed yet bizarrely graceful in his pissed-offedness about things, never losing his sense of humour, nor his gratefulness to the audience that had supported him for the most part of what he joked was 'a wasted decade'.
The footage I display here shows Dave in a state of ill-health and some people may not wish to remember Dave that way. Some may even disagree with my presenting this material at all especially as it is not particularly funny stuff. Others, and I count myself amongst them, are more than happy to see Dave one last time, as he appeared before the audience, cracking wise and giving us all his best. Missed, but not forgotten. |
