Comedy Benefits for Victims of Hurricane Katrina

A woman contacted me the other day and mentioned she wanted to do a comedy benefit for the vistims of the hurricane. I said, "well I can put some comics together for you if you'd like." Kirsten Meyers, of Globond http://globond.com/, the company that is spearheading the effort, thought she could get 100-1500 people to attend within the 10 day span.

The next thing I know, she was talking about Thursday, Sept. 29th, and my jaw dropped. How could I get this together in 10 days? "Yikes" I thought, then, "double yikes."

I guess it was meant to be. Within an hour, I got emails returned from a few comics, volunteering their time and talent. My friend DJ asked about the number of comics I planned to put on. I had been thinking 6 or 7, assuming I had to jam in as many as I could. He humbly suggested a "classic" format to the show, with a host, an opener, a middle and a headliner.

Had I been aware that DJ Hazard, Boston comic of the year for the last umpteen years, cult hero and Boston Comedy Legend (he would be cringing if he read that) was going to volunteer fifteen minutes after I asked for help, I might have had the same thought.

So the first show is all set, talentwise. I will host (an unnatural position for me, but it should be fun), Shane Mauss will open, Rich Gustus will work the middle slot and DJ will close the show. I am going to enjoy this, these guys are three of my favorite comics.

Rich is available for the second show as well. Joining Rich and myself for the October 6th show so far is Mary Beth Cowan and Dan Hirshon. Mary Beth is a terrific writer and performer. Many people think she just might be the next comic to bust out of the Boston Comedy scene. She won the hearts of half of America in her national television debut on Last Comic Standing, scoring a coveted feature spot on the first episode. Dan is starring in a demo for a comedy series that I have a peripheral part in. he is another of Boston great young comics that really write. He's immediately likable and has good stage presence.

I am waiting to find out the venues for these events. i don;t how they plan to find such a venue is such a short time, but I'll leave that to the experts.

More information will be available through my website, and mostlikely, the globond website listed above.