The medieval philosopher Maimonides suggested there were various moral levels to charitable deeds. The highest level, he thought, was to give and not let anyone know. But Maimonides didn’t have the pressure of a monthly deadline, so let me tell you about the exciting charity work I’ve been doing.
Comedy and charity go well together. There are very few performers who would say no to lending their name to help others.
The granddaddy of comedy fundraisers was Comic Relief, spearheaded by Billy Crystal, Robin Williams and Whoopi Goldberg, which raised a lot of money for the homeless from 1986 to 1998.
I was lucky enough to attend a number of these extravaganzas and they were among the best comedy shows I’ve seen.
Now charity events tend to be one-offs, although the long and healthy run of It’s Always Something in Toronto to benefit Gilda’s Club is a valued exception. This year’s collection of talent includes Russell Peters, Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Eugene Levy.
I’ve always been available to help any variety of causes, although my reputation of onstage edginess doesn’t make my phone ring off the hook. But just this month, I was involved with a number of interesting charity events.
The first, Humour Me, is the brainchild of David Goodman, CEO of Dundee Wealth and a fine stand-up comic. Humour Me is the outgrowth of the former Stand Up for Kids, which put on a big comedy concert each year with some big name stars such as Steven Wright. But this year, Goodman wanted to try something different. So he approached some kingpins in the financial services industry and challenged them to do four minutes of stand-up at the Winter Garden Theatre, hosted by Dennis Miller.
The evening of the big show, there were three judges onstage, American Idol style, who made sport of the CEOs’ attempts to be funny. I was one of those judges, and you know what? All three financial gurus made the crowd laugh. But it was Kevin Sullivan of GMP Capital who took home the gold. The event raised more than $400,000 in support of youth at risk.
A more low-key affair, but no less entertaining, was the Rendezvous with Madness benefit in support of CAMH. And only a week later, I found myself auctioning off gold ingots and hockey tickets. I had gotten a call from Ms Bobbi Lewin asking me if I could somehow bring some levity to her cause, Put Up Your Dukes, established to raise money for a teen lounge at CAMH.
I didn’t think that comedy would work in that kind of emotional environment, but when I found out she was planning an auction, I volunteered to be the auctioneer — where I could bring the fun, if not the funny. And so I did.
Then I came home and checked my voice mail: another call to host yet another mental health benefit. Anybody notice a pattern here? The word must be out.
It’s reassuring to know that if you don’t find your cause, your cause will find you.
Post City Magazines’ humour columnist, Mark Breslin, is the founder of Yuk Yuk’s comedy clubs and the author of several books, including Control Freaked.