Irwin Barker (June 13, 1952 – June 21, 2010) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

comedian and writer. He wrote for ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

'' and ''

The Rick Mercer Report ''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by ...

'', and was nominated for four

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States a ...

as a writer and one as stand-up performer for his 2005 performance at the Halifax comedy Festival. Barker was also nominated for three Writers' Guild of Canada Screenwriter's awards, and won the award in 2008. He was a regular writer and contributor for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''

The Debaters ''The Debaters'' is a Canadian radio comedy show hosted by Steve Patterson. It airs on CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 1:30PM and Wednesdays at 11:30AM, Eastern Time. During each episode, two debates take place between two sets of two contestants. ...

''. In June 2007, Barker was diagnosed with

leiomyosarcoma Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. A benign tumor originating from the same tissue is termed leiomyoma. While leiomyosarcomas are not thought to arise from leiomyomas, some leiomyoma variants' classification is evolvi ...

, a rare type of terminal cancer. He joked that his doctor had given him twelve months to live, "but my lawyer says he can get it down to eight". After his diagnosis, he was active as an inspirational speaker on how he used humour as a vital coping mechanism in his personal fight against cancer. He was a headline performer at numerous cancer fundraisers, as well as a keynote speaker for conferences dealing with cancer and

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

. His first year of cancer treatment was the subject of a CTV documentary entitled "That's My Time". The documentary debuted at the 2008

Atlantic Film Festival FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival (known as The Atlantic International Film Festival until 2017) is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. FIN is the largest Canadian film festival eas ...

and was nationally televised in September 2008. Reactions to Barker's presentations on comedy and cancer were overwhelmingly positive. In Barker's own words. "Cancer has my body but not my spirit, and I'll continue to make jokes, not so much about cancer, but in spite of it." He died in Toronto on June 21, 2010, at the age of 58, from his cancer.

References

External links

Official Website

Irwin Barker on ComedyNightLife.com
* 1956 births 2010 deaths Canadian comedy writers Canadian male screenwriters Deaths from cancer in Ontario Deaths from leiomyosarcoma Canadian Comedy Award winners 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male television writers {{Canada-screenwriter-stub