To laugh is healthy
Stand-up comedy group for people with mental illness to take the stage at The Guild
It’s often said laughter is the best medicine.
For the members of a small group that’s been gathering in an office above The Guild in Charlottetown for the past six weeks, they know that phrase to be true.
They’re part of an Island Media Arts Cooperative (IMAC) program that’s teaching people with mental illness the art of stand-up comedy.
The weeks of challenging – but hilarious – work culminate this Sunday when the participants perform their routines during a night of stand-up comedy at The Guild.
Margie MacGillivary found out about the program while attending the Fitzroy Centre Clubhouse, an accredited recovery program in Charlottetown for people with mental illnesses.
MacGillivary said her friends always tell her she’s funny, but she never thought she’d get the opportunity to tell her jokes on stage in front of an audience of her family, friends and the public in general.
“I’ve made a fool of myself elsewhere, but not on stage,” she said, with a laugh. “I like making people laugh, so to get up on stage, it’s a dream for me. Even if it doesn’t go any farther, I’ve lived my dream.”
It was IMAC’s Dave Hicks who drew inspiration for the program from after seeing a similar group from Vancouver perform at a conference he attended.
He went to Skills P.E.I., which funded IMAC for a six-month program open to anyone with a mental illness who wanted to attend.
The first six weeks were spent on this stand-up comedy group, while the next eight weeks will see a group of 14 participants focusing on improvisational comedy that will also stage a performance in the new year.
Hicks, who also has a mental illness, has even been flexing his own funny bone and will be among the performers at Sunday’s event.
“I did very little teaching – they showed up … and kept writing and bringing stuff,” said Hicks. “You’ll definitely see a different side of how people with mental illness can live up to their full potential. I really hope this performance exemplifies how, when given a voice, we can perform.”
In addition to breaking down stigmas surrounding mental illness for the audience, another aim of the program is to provide the participants with a healthy creative outlet through joke telling.
That’s something budding comedian Brenlae MacMillan, who also heard about the standup comedy program through his membership at the Fitzroy Centre, understands.
“I used comedy as a coping technique when I was a teenager to quell my anxiety,” said MacMillan. “A good laugh helps a lot when you’re in a bad way.”
While mental illness can often be a serious topic of discussion, make no mistake – the jokes will be funny Sunday night. Participants rehearsing earlier this week when The Guardian visited were throwing out setups and punchlines like stand-up veterans, eliciting bursts of laughter from the room.
That camaraderie has been invaluable to Andrew Campbell, who will be accompanied by his trusty guitar for a musical comedy routine Sunday night.
“With mental illness, depression and anxiety, you can isolate a lot,” said Campbell. “Coming here and being around people was really helpful to me to be around something positive and to get me out of my apartment.”
The public is invited to The Guild on Sunday to laugh along with P.E.I.’s newest stand-up comics. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the performance runs 6-8 p.m.
Admission is pay-what-youwish, with all proceeds going back into IMAC’s program.