News Advisory July 12, 2009First Annual Island Comedy Festival, Friday August 14 at 8 pm and Saturday August 15, at 1pm, 4pm and 8pm at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney By the Sea
Proudly Presented By the Mary Winspear Centre in Partnership with Stand Up For Mental Health (SMH)
Featuring Famed Comedian Mike MacDonald (Just for Laughs, Comedy Central, Letterman and Showtime) and the Fabulous David Granirer and SMH BC Comics
Opening Night Friday August 14 Dedicated to Canadian Troops Around the World. Come out and Join Us in Honouring Our Troops! Support the CFB Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre!Sign Language Interpreters Extraordinaire Ava Hawkins and Heather Perry will be On-Stage for Friday and Saturday Night Performances thanks to the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Special Saturday August 15th 4pm Matinee for Island Rotary Clubs. Rotary Fellowship BBQ will follow with Anacortes Rotary Clubs from Washington State
Most people think you have to be nuts to go anywhere near stand-up comedy. We Are Nuts!
Stand Up For Mental Health (SMH) is an innovative and successful national program that uses stand-up comedy to talk about mental illness. Laughter is our lethal and cost-effective weapon of choice in breaking down the prejudice, stigma and discrimination that surrounds mental illness.
SMH Founder David Granirer helps members of the community who have a mental illness create and perform their own original material about their mental health journeys. As student’s self-confidence and self-esteem grow, they start to perform for a variety of audiences throughout their communities.
What starts as rehabilitation and recovery for our comics, enables them to then go out and entertain, educate and de-stigmatize their audiences. The results have been life-changing for many.
Stand Up For Mental Health is on the cutting edge of mental health and comedy, and the word is spreading.
SMH has programs in Campbell River and Courtney. Victoria will start in the fall of 2009. We are proud to be partnering with the BCSS Victoria (BC Schizophrenia Society) and Executive Director Hazel Meredith for the new Victoria Program. We also have programs in Vancouver, Abbotsford and Chilliwack and across Canada.
All of our traditional funding partners, VIHA, Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, mental healthcare agencies and others, have had their budgets slashed in the current economic downturn. No funding for us.
Stand Up For Mental Health refuses to go down without a fight. We are determined to keep all of our programs across BC going by performing, performing, and performing. The Island Comedy Festival will help us raise the money to not only keep SHM going, but it will also enable us to raise money for Island Rotary Club Projects and The Military Family Resource Centre of CFB Esquimalt.
SMH firmly believes in sharing, particularly in these challenging economic times. We actually see these challenges as opportunities to help each other. Our message is one of Hope and Empowerment.
We plan to make this an Annual Must-Go-To Event that folks on Vancouver Island look forward to each year. Our Partner, the Mary Winspear Centre, continues to be a respected, strong and vibrant part of community life on the Island under the energetic leadership of Executive Director Ian Hennigar. The Mary Winspear Centre hosts a great number of artistic, cultural, social and business events throughout the year.
Spreading the Word and Sharing the Laughter has never been more timely or important...and SMH seems to be catching on. A TV, SHAW TV, the Ocean and Jack FM, Black Press, Vancity and RBC Dominion Securities are already on board. The Jim Pattison Group/Pattison Outdoor has donated Billboards. The Sidney and Sidney by the Sea Rotary Clubs are the official Host Community Clubs for the Festival.
The beautiful Town of Sidney has agreed to be the Sponsoring Host Community for the Festival, and to officially declare it Stand Up For Mental Health Day in Sidney during the Festival.
SMH is also proud to bring SMH Day to the U VIC Campus on Oct.21, 2009. We will perform for students, faculty and staff at lunchtime. Local high-school students will be invited guests. We will perform for the public in the evening. We hope to start a spirited and open discussion about mental illness on campus.
SMH is truly Changing Hearts and Minds One Laugh at a Time. We Invite Vancouver Island to Join Us in Spreading the Laughter.
For More Information, to arrange interviews or to volunteer or become
a sponsor of the First Annual Island Comedy Festival, please contact:
Pat Bayes, Administrative, PR and Program Coordinator,
Stand Up For Mental Health (The Trojan Horse)
Tel.604.707.0483 Email pat@standupformentalhealth.com
Visit www.standupformentalhealth.com and www.islandcomedyfest.com