In the world of comedy the highest compliment paid to a comic that has elicited maximum response from the audience is “you killed”.  This high form of praise was often heaped upon René, who now marvels at the irony that while she was “killing” in all those smoke-filled venues, the secondhand smoke almost killed her.  “How can it be that cancer is the least funniest subject to talk about, yet I get lung cancer from secondhand smoke while working in comedy clubs?  That’s like a nutritionist working at a fast food restaurant, suffering a stroke due to continually watching people eat junk food”.  Even with her background of having been an accountant, she could not have calculated the miniscule odds of a woman in her thirties, who was an energetic, health conscious, athlete--a former collegiate distance runner--no less, who had never, smoked being diagnosed with lung cancer.  “It's funny, but I found that people had an easier time accepting that I had lung cancer, without ever smoking, than that I was an accountant, with a sense of humor.”

It is no wonder someone who has been active in her community since her high school days in San Francisco would fight for the right to breathe clean air by helping collect signatures to put the initiative “Proposition 10” on the ballot (designating smoking and non-smoking sections in all public facilities in California), would view getting lung cancer, as a calling to effect change on an even wider plane. It was by living and laughing through her cancer ordeal that René came to fully understand that whether it's physical ills or societal ills, laughter could be an effective tool.   René is realizing her goal of illuminating others about the incredible results from the applications of laughter.  René has utilized her gift of humor to become a vocal and effective advocate for the prevention of tobacco use and for generating greater public awareness of the health related dangers from exposure to secondhand smoke, especially for children. Her quest was given a major boost by the filming of two immensely effective TV ads, relating her ordeal. Her TV ad, “Secondhand Smoke Is No Joke” was awarded the prestigious “Telly Award”, symbolizing outstanding achievement in advertising.