By MATTHEW EVANGELISTA
Conestoga’s marketing students hosted their Comedy 4 Cancer event in Conestoga Students Inc.’s Doon campus Venue Oct. 18, donating all proceeds to Canadian breast cancer research.
The Venue was a full house. Although admission was free, the marketing students asked for a toonie donation from attendees at the door and during the event. It was also the first day The Venue started serving beer this year, attracting more of a crowd than previously expected.
Sandy MacFarlane and Conestoga alumni Tige Wright, both comedians from Rusty Nail Comedy, a Kitchener-Waterloo comedy group, were the afternoon’s entertainment. They both got the room roaring with laughter with jokes ranging from the relatable to the outlandish.
“Very early on I started to reach out to some charities,” said the founder of Rusty Nail Comedy Alex Mac. “The reason was as a comic, I, myself, had been booked on charity shows. They were always awesome. The crowd is always there with a lot of support, and I know it sounds cheesy or cliché but it really did feel good to give your time to a good cause. The great thing about comedy is everyone is laughing, and that’s the best part when you are doing shows for serious causes.”
October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month, bringing attention to the disease which affects one out of every 30 Canadian women. The proliferation of breast cancer awareness has helped increase the survival rate to 88 per cent, according to The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and as high as 90 per cent in the two largest diagnosed age brackets of 40 to 49 and 60 to 69.
The marketing students’ mission was to use laughter to “reduce any pain and suffering.” With a healthy donation from the students, and plenty of laughs as well, it’s clear the event was a success.
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