Comedy vs Cancer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s (MSK) official comedy benefit show for blood cancer research, raised over $1.3 million on Tuesday, May 7. Over 1,000 supporters attended the one-night-only event at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell, and Busy Philipps from the cast of Netflix’s Girls5eva, perform at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s (MSK) Comedy vs Cancer, a one-night-only comedy show benefitting blood cancer research at MSK on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York. The event raised more than $1.3 million for blood cancer research at MSK.
Hosted by Nick Kroll, Comedy vs Cancer featured performances by Tina Fey, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, Alex Edelman, and the cast of Netflix’s Girls5eva, which includes Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Paula Pell. “There’s no better way to fight blood cancer than by funding the incredible work of experts at MSK,” said Kroll. Attendees included Steve Martin, Jon Hamm, and Ellie Kemper.
Comedy vs Cancer and MSK are dedicated to improving outcomes for people with blood cancer, including those with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is caused by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal immature blood cells in the bone marrow.
The FDA recently approved a phase 1 clinical trial for an investigational immunotherapy developed by a team of MSK hematologist-oncologists, including Anthony Daniyan, MD; Mark Geyer, MD; and Kevin J. Curran, MD. The potential new treatment is designed to seek and destroy acute myeloid leukemia cancer cells that survive after chemotherapy.
“Without funding from Comedy vs Cancer, we wouldn’t be where we are today — advancing immunotherapy for blood cancers,” said Dr. Curran, the Pediatric Director of the Cellular Therapeutic Center at MSK.
Roy Wood, Jr. performed at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Comedy vs Cancer event, which raised more than $1.3 million for blood cancer research, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in New York City.
Comedy vs Cancer was founded by Niccole and Jeremy Kroll, Jennifer Rogers and Robert Carlock, and Nick Kroll and Lily Kwong. This year’s show was made possible by corporate support from Netflix, Kreindler & Kreindler, Esquire Bank and the leadership of the Host Committee, which is a group of volunteers committed to advancing MSK’s mission of ending cancer for life.
Since 2019, Comedy vs Cancer has directed more than $4 million into MSK labs, where doctors and researchers are working every day to unlock new cures for people with blood cancer in New York City and worldwide.