Anthony ‘Toeknee’ Corrado: the viral TikTok star who uses comedy to share his cancer journey with followers

A man who hasn’t let his cancer diagnosis dampen his high spirits or change his happy attitude has become a TikTok sensation.

Anthony Corrado, who calls himself “Toneknee”, has also been known for posting other humorous videos poking fun at awkward or irritating life situations people may find themselves in, adopting various personas to make his point. For example, his latest video shows him pretending to be an annoying person who wants the biggest room when a group of friends have booked a rental home on AirBnB. He now also uses comedy to discuss his cancer journey with his 463,400 followers. 

American star Corrado, aged 27, revealed his cancer diagnosis to his followers in a TikTok video he posted on his page, @toekneecorrado, in May. He began the two minute clip by simply announcing “I have cancer. I just wanted to rip the bandaid (plaster) off right out of the gate”. The video had the caption: “Don’t think that this is going to stop me or slow me down! I obsess over trying to find ways to make you all laugh and smile, and that’s not ever going to change. Love you.”

During the video, Corrado went on to reveal that he has a type of cancer called lymphoma, but said the specific kind he has is “very treatable and very curable”. He added: “I’m going to do everything I can to just absolutely strange, and suffocate, and just murder every single cancer cell in my body. Hopefully when it’s all said and done, I’m even stronger than I was before.” He added that he was expecting to have six months worth of treatment including chemotherapy, and warned fans that he would likely lose his hair as a result.

“A freaking rockstar”

Since then, Corrado has been sharing his journey with his followers, but through his usual comedic lens that his followers have come to love. One of his latest videos, captioned “These cancer cells really thought they could hold me back” shows him dancing around the hospital room where he was receiving treatment with the nurses who are caring for him. The video, which is set to a soundtrack he has written, sung and recorded himself, also features shots of him doing various activities in his hospital gown including playing football and doing push-ups.

One fan commented on the video to say “Omg your team is incredible for participating in these videos hahaha”. Corrado replied and said: “Love them sooooo much.” Another person said: “I just know you’re those nurses’ favourite patient.” Another TikToker  who has cancer too said: “Using this to pregame my next chemo.”

On 10 August, Corrado celebrated being half way through his chemotherapy treatment by posting a video of himself dancing around the hospital to the soundtrack of “Meet Me Halfway” by The Black Eyed Peas. One fan commended his actions and said: “Cuttin’ it up even during chemo! You’re a freaking rockstar!”

In fact, Corrado regularly uses music to link to the things he is explaining in his videos. In content he shared in June, he revealed he got his Echo and PET-CT scan. He explained: "An echo scan is a scan of my heart and a PET-CT scan is when I get into a tube and they put radioactive juice in you. They do that so they can see all the bad stuff." He then briefly danced to "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons before going in for the echo scan.

He also uses other pop culture references such as TV shows to bring humour into what is actually a very serious situation. But, his comedy approach is clearly helping to keep him upbeat and positive. While documenting his first round of chemotherapy in June, he pretended he was in an episode of MTV Cribs although he was actually in a hospital bed. He pointed to the bed and said: “This right here? This is where all the magic happens."

“Toeknee’s lymphomies” 

Corrado has also made light of the impact the chemotherapy treatment has had on his body. In one video, he joked about having to use the bathroom constantly because of all the fluids being injected into him. He said: "If you think about it, every time I go pee, I'm actually peeing out the cancer cells, and then I'm flushing them down into the dirty, deep depths of the Chicago sewer system, where they belong."

In another video, he also filmed himself shaving his head after his hair began to fall out due to the chemotherapy. Smiling at the camera, he told his fans “it’s happening. I told myself that as soon as I am able to pull a junk of hair out of my head that I would shave my head and that day is finally here.” He then proceeded to film himself saving his head - but with added comedy.

He began shaving his hair and then styled it to look like Blink 182 lead vocalist Tom Delonge. Performing his own parody version of the band’s hit song “I Miss You”, Corrado sang “Where are you? And I’m so sorry. I got lymphoma tonight.”

He also told his fans that he was pleased to get rid of all of his hair as he always worried about how it looked and it made him happy that it was no longer a concern. Corrado has even created a playlist called “Toeknee’s lymphomies” which includes all the videos he has posted about his cancer diagnosis and treatment so fans can easily watch them any time they wish.

Corrado’s videos have gained him over 26 million likes on TikTok also, and he’s even created his own line of “Toeknee’s lymphomies” merchandise, including t-shirts which friends and family can be seen wearing in some of his videos.