Michael J. Fox Says He Fights to Maintain His Dark Sense of Humor in the Face of Parkinson’s

Seeing the funny side of an insidious disease like Parkinson’s isn’t easy, but it beats battling Parkinson’s with a straight face.

When Michael J. Fox first started to show symptoms of early onset Parkinson’s disease in 1991, his doctors told him that, within a few short years, his career in entertainment would be over and he would no longer be able to act professionally. The diagnosis drove the Back to the Future star into a deep depression as he grappled with the possibilities and the realities of his future. But for the next three decades, he never stopped entertaining, as experts believed he would be forced to do, and, critically, he never stopped laughing. While Fox formally retired from acting in 2020, his work to battle Parkinson’s through the Michael J. Fox Foundation continues, and during a recent fundraising event, he says that he also fights to keep his love of dark comedy alive and well.

At the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s annual A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson’s gala on Saturday, the iconic actor and activist told PEOPLE that, while it’s “hard for me" to maintain his dark sense of humor through his health problems, “I gotta keep it intact.”

Fox believes that the ability to make light out of dark situations is vital to breaking through taboos and allowing individuals facing obstacles like Parkinson’s disease to have honest conversations about touchy topics. “Let’s embrace that and make a difference,” he implored at the fundraiser hosted by actor and comic Denis Leary. The event raised a massive $116 million for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which celebrated the passing of the The National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act this year.

While Fox’ most recognizable credits aren’t exactly “gallows humor”-type projects, Fox did get the chance to showcase his dark comedy chops while playing himself in the 2011 Curb Your Enthusiasm episode “Larry vs. Michael J. Fox.” During the Curb appearance, Fox repeatedly commits mildly annoying offenses against Larry while claiming that his condition is the true culprit, and Larry has to spend the entire episode trying to prove that Fox was more dickish than he was disabled.

Today, Fox is no longer available for sitcom work, but the fight against Parkinson’s and for dark humor continues.