Comics to Crack Jokes for a Cause

Six nationally-touring comedians will be cracking jokes at Harvard next weekend to raise money for underprivileged youths in developing countries.

They will appear in Comedy for a Cause, which last year raised almost $10,000 in disaster relief for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan last October.

After the success of last year’s show, the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC) made the show an annual event with a different cause each year, according to HCC Promotion Chair Lauren P.S. Epstein ’07.

The comedians scheduled to appear range from an Emmy Award-winning writer for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to a stand-up regular on Comedy Central.

“The idea is that we can do two amazing things at once,” Epstein said. “We can provide a night of really amazing comedy for Harvard students and we can make a serious effort to raise both money and awareness.”

Proceeds from the event will go to Deep Roots, a charity that offers scholarships to underprivileged youths, especially women, in Guatemala, Namibia, Nepal, and Zambia.

“We at Harvard take for granted every now and then that we do have an education, a fantastic education,” said HCC Production Chair Samantha H. Fink ’07. “There are people across the world who never get basic schooling.”

All of the comedians are performing for free, and JetBlue has donated plane tickets for their travel.

Two of the comedians, Judah Friedlander and Modi, performed in last year’s show.

Friedlander has appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and in the movie Zoolander, and Modi has been on the Howard Stern Show, Comedy Central, The Sopranos, and Last Comic Standing.

The other four comedians performing are Paul Mecurio, Emmy Award-winning writer for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart; Tom Shillue from Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Comedy Central Presents ‘Tom Shillue’; Marc Maron from HBO Comedy Half Hour and the Late Show with David Letterman; and Tim Young from Last Comic Standing and Premium Blend.

The show will be held in Sanders Theatre on Oct. 21. Since no parties are allowed on campus that weekend due to the Head of the Charles, the show will allow “Harvard students to have some other social event to go to,” Epstein said.

—Staff writer Stephanie S. Garlow can be reached at sgarlow@fas.harvard.edu.