2008 Woodie Awards
Comedy show benefits central Indiana's homeless children
Rose Soliven
Issue date: 8/31/07 Section: Art & Entertainment
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Lecture Hall room 101 burst with laughter Monday night as members from the IUPUI community gathered to see local and big-time stand-up comedians entertain for a charitable cause.
IUPUI's Department of Communication Studies and the Student Activity Programming Board teamed up with the Salvation Army to host the show "Comics That Care" on Sept. 24. All proceeds benefited central Indiana's homeless children.
Mike Polites, a lecturer in Communication Studies, began the night with his own comedy routine. Next, Marques Bunn, stand-up comedian from Indy, took the microphone. Bunn has performed in clubs across the Midwest and was ranked first runner up at the Indianapolis Funny Person Competition Finals in 2000 and 2001.
Mel Fine then delighted the audience as the only female to grace the stage. Fine has been published in "She's So Funny," a Judy Brown bestselling book, which also features famous female comics like Ellen Degeneres, Whoopi Goldberg and Roseanne Barr.
Following Fine, Troy Davis shared his comedic flavor with the crowd. Born in Indianapolis, Davis has performed on the "Bob and Tom Show."
Finally headliner Mark Klein took to the stage. After more than 20 years in the comedy business, Klein, also known as "The Corp Jester," has headlined over 100 shows in the U.S. and Caribbean and has appeared on Showtime specials and CBS's "48 Hours."
This year's "Comics That Care" was the second in an anticipated series of charitable shows. The first live comedy event took place in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana. Polites came up with the idea for presenting both shows.
"I wanted to help in some way," Polites said. "So, I thought we could do a comedy show to raise money to sent to the victims of the hurricane."
Despite good intentions, putting together this year's show was not easy.
"Booking the comics, preparing the marketing materials, writing the press release, and coordinating volunteers just scratch the surface of all the work we had to do," Polites said.
IUPUI's Department of Communication Studies and the Student Activity Programming Board teamed up with the Salvation Army to host the show "Comics That Care" on Sept. 24. All proceeds benefited central Indiana's homeless children.
Mike Polites, a lecturer in Communication Studies, began the night with his own comedy routine. Next, Marques Bunn, stand-up comedian from Indy, took the microphone. Bunn has performed in clubs across the Midwest and was ranked first runner up at the Indianapolis Funny Person Competition Finals in 2000 and 2001.
Mel Fine then delighted the audience as the only female to grace the stage. Fine has been published in "She's So Funny," a Judy Brown bestselling book, which also features famous female comics like Ellen Degeneres, Whoopi Goldberg and Roseanne Barr.
Following Fine, Troy Davis shared his comedic flavor with the crowd. Born in Indianapolis, Davis has performed on the "Bob and Tom Show."
Finally headliner Mark Klein took to the stage. After more than 20 years in the comedy business, Klein, also known as "The Corp Jester," has headlined over 100 shows in the U.S. and Caribbean and has appeared on Showtime specials and CBS's "48 Hours."
This year's "Comics That Care" was the second in an anticipated series of charitable shows. The first live comedy event took place in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana. Polites came up with the idea for presenting both shows.
"I wanted to help in some way," Polites said. "So, I thought we could do a comedy show to raise money to sent to the victims of the hurricane."
Despite good intentions, putting together this year's show was not easy.
"Booking the comics, preparing the marketing materials, writing the press release, and coordinating volunteers just scratch the surface of all the work we had to do," Polites said.
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