Funny people, serious cause at Komedy for Kidneys
It started as a funny benefit to help fight kidney disease. Now, comedians flock to the annual Komedy for Kidneys show in Niagara just to watch, if they can’t perform.
So when Komedy for Kidneys returns for its 12th year in Niagara Falls March 6, expect to see plenty of funny people in the audience as well as on the stage.
“The event has become well recognized in the comedy community,” says co-founder Mark Matthews. “Many comics come to the show just to watch and support the event.”
The show supports dialysis care in Niagara and after its first couple years became a memorial benefit for Niagara Falls comic Rodney Pentland, who died of complications related to kidney disease in 2009. To date it has raised more than $74,000.
A plaque for Pentland hangs at the NHS Kidney Care Centre on Queen Street in Niagara Falls.
“Asking comedians to participate requires very little explanation
after 12 years as they all know about it,” says Matthews. “We’ve never had anyone say no to joining the show unless it was a conflict in their schedule.”
This year’s lineup features returning comic Derek Edwards, Patrick Alexander, Simon B. Cotter, David Green and Terry McGurrin along with Matthews. Making his first appearance at the event is Scott Faulconbridge, a regular on CBC radio’s “The Debaters.”
His stories and songs of family mishaps have made him a comedy club headliner for decades. Matthews describes him as one of the “smartest stand-up comics in Canada today.
“With four strong headliners on the show … we are likely going to draw names the night of the show to see what order they will go on.”