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Clowns with a conscience: campus comedians give back

Omid Salari gets really excited when he talks about philanthropy.

It’s funny to watch. If you’ve ever seen Salari around, you’ll know his shtick is typically to make people laugh and as a member of the Comedy Club here at Western, Salari leads a motley crew of comedians better known for their offside humour than for raising awareness. But if their upcoming comedy show is any indication, there’s a logical fusion between the two.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT CHARITY, I TOUCH MYSELF. Members of the UWO Comedy Club strike a few poses before a performance. Check them out again this week for their “Chomedy” show –– a mix of comedy and charity. (Corey Stanford/Gazette)

“Chomedy,” as the show has been dubbed –– a mixture of comedy and charity, Salari explains –– marks a partnership between the comedy troupe and the Western Microcredit Society.

The unique collaboration allows Salari and company to provide the laughs while Microcredit provides philanthropic direction. “We’re comedy people,” Salari says with a laugh. “We’d give [the donations] to Clowns Without Borders or something.”

Jokes aside, Salari gets serious when discussing his involvement with the microcredit system. He emphasizes the tangible difference made by microcredit to entrepreneurs in underdeveloped areas of the world.

“Microcrediting [means] we hand over small loans overseas because our money here has more buying power,” he explains.

It’s really not charity, he adds, since all the loans are eventually repaid once businesses get off the ground.

“They take the money and make money with it […] We’re creating real grassroots development,” Salari says. “It’s helping people overseas in a very real way, in a very transparent fashion.”

But whether you’re into helping create sustainable development or you just need a good chuckle, the Chomedy show this Thursday night promises to deliver with a full lineup featuring standup comedians and the improv troupe.

Reverting back to his class clown persona, Salari stresses it’s absolutely a wet event.

“So be sure to get toasted,” he says. “People always laugh more when they’ve been drinking.”

Chomedy takes place Thursday at 9:30 p.m. at the Wave. Tickets are $5 and available at InfoSource.

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