Frats bringing 'Comic Relief' show to campus

Students looking to ease the tensions of academic life will have a chance to laugh a little on April 4 when the Comic Relief organization stages a benefit comedy show at Irvine Auditorium. The event, organized by students at the Tau Epsilon Phi and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities and entitled Stand-Up Against Homelessness, will likely feature five professional comedians, including four castmembers of the television show Saturday Night Live, according to event coordinator David Rubin, who is a TEP brother. Comic Relief, a national charity organization which works to raise funds for homelessness, is helping to book talent for the show, according to Comic Relief's local supervisor Judd Apatow. Apatow said comedians Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler -- both newcomers to Saturday Night Live -- have been booked for the event. He added that Comic Relief is still negotiating with three other professional comedians. Between acts, brief film clips will be shown to inform students about homelessness, Rubin added. But, while one aim of Comic Relief Night will be to entertain and inform students, organizers said the principal aim will be to raise money to help the homeless of West Philadelphia. Rubin said all proceeds from the show will benefit Philadelphia's Health Care for the Homeless project and will be used to provide health care and social services for West Philadelphia's homeless population. He said Stand-Up For Homelessness hopes to earn $40,000 through ticket and t-shirt sales, corporate donations and advertising revenue from its event program. "Hopefully we can open a couple of people's eyes to problems which they may otherwise be oblivious to," said Thomas Reynolds, a Kappa Alpha Psi brother and event organizer. According to Elaine Fox, an official with Healthcare for the Homeless, the group has not decided exactly how it will spend the money. However, event coordinator and TEP brother Neil Schur said the funds may be used to help the University City Hospitality Coalition build a "Survival Center" in several trailers. The center, proposed for a tract of University-donated land in the 4100 block of Chestnut St., would provide homeless persons with drug and alcohol counseling, legal services and health care, UCHC official Marissa Boyers said yesterday. The money raised on Comic Relief Night would be used specifically to fund the medical trailer, Schur said. "We feel this can push them over the top," organizer Robert Inerfeld, a TEP brother, said. UCHC had hoped to receive funding for the comedy show from the Student Activities Council, but the SAC Finance Committee refused even to put the issue on the agenda at last night's SAC meeting. Finance Committee chairperson Howard Radzely said although UCHC is on SAC, any funding for the event itself should come from the Social Planning and Events Council. Organizers emphasized Comic Relief Night will be different from other charity events because the program gives students the chance to be involved in a serious problem. Besides giving their money to the homeless in the form of ticket purchases, students will be asked to volunteer their time to help the homeless, Schur said.

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