Local lawyers bring standup comedy to Good Laughs fundraiser for Michael Garron Hospital on May 21

By KAT BERGERON

Comedy Bar Danforth will be hosting the annual Good Laughs fundraiser for Michael Garron Hospital on Thursday, May 21, with shows set for 7 and 9 p.m.

The event features standup comedy performances by Toronto lawyers. Founded by Michael Currie, Good Laughs challenges lawyers to speak publicly in a different way. He said lawyers don’t want a judge to laugh at them in court but they do at a comedy show, making it “a tough and rewarding challenge”.

Currie said he has been interested in standup comedy since his early days in university.

“Since undergrad, I wanted to start doing standup comedy because I grew up on a small island, didn’t have a lot of opportunities to do public speaking, and I had read that standup comedy is seen as the hardest thing to do in terms of public speaking,” he said.

“My thought was, if I start doing standup or doing presentations in school, having to make submissions when I go to court will be easy if I can master doing standup.”

The Good Laughs show is not lawyer-specific, with comedy topics being accessible to anyone who attends.

Comedian Martha Chaves will be the host for this year’s Good Laughs.

Sponsored by Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP (Lead Sponsor), Miller Thomson LLP, Osler LLP, Thomson Rogers LLP and Torkin Manes LLP, with participation from the firms, Good Laughs has raised more than $60,000 over the past three years in support of the hospital.

“I think events like this really make the hospital community feel very tight knit. It’s an opportunity for not just lawyers to get together, but there’s also hospital staff, doctors, members of the community, people who use the hospital services, or maybe don’t live in the community. They can all get together and do something fun and feel like they’re giving back,” said Claire Seaborn, founding member of the Michael Garron Hospital Foundation’s Impact Council.

Started in 2021, Michael Garron Hospital’s Impact Council has organized events and helped raise $350,000 for programs and expansions at the hospital.

In past years, Good Laughs has supported improvements to Michael Garron’s family birthing centre, the pilot of an AI-powered record-keeping system and new high-tech pediatric mannequins.

Everyone in the community is welcome to share a laugh for a good cause at the May 21 event. Tax receipts are available. Tickets are available online and in-person at the door until sold out.

To buy tickets online for one of the two shows on May 21, please go to http://goodlaughs.ca