Michael Currie, left, and Claire Seaborn sit at the Comedy Bar on Toronto's Danforth Ave., where they'll be hosting the fourth Good Laughs comedy show on May 21.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The organizers: Michael Currie and Claire Seaborn
The pitch: Raising $100,000 and climbing
The cause: Michael Garron Hospital Foundation
While studying law at the University of Ottawa, Michael Currie used to try his hand at stand-up comedy as a way of honing his presentation skills.
“My view was that stand-up is the cross training for lawyers, where we are able to improve our stage presence, thinking on our feet, and our preparation,” recalled Mr. Currie, who is a partner with the Toronto firm Lax O’Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP.
He and some fellow law students started organizing comedy shows, charging $5 a ticket and handing the proceeds to various charities. Mr. Currie kept up the idea after graduating, and a few years ago he and his wife, Claire Seaborn, who is a lawyer at Torys LLP, began earmarking the proceeds for Toronto’s Michael Garron Hospital Foundation.
They’ve organized the fourth annual Good Laughs comedy show on May 21 at the Comedy Bar on Toronto’s Danforth Ave. The format has been expanded to two shows featuring six lawyers doing their best stand-up routines. All 300 tickets have been sold, at $75 a piece, and the couple hope to raise $40,000, bringing their four-year total to $100,000.
Pitching in: A summer sports program for at-risk children
Ms. Seaborn is part of a group of young professionals who raise money for the hospital from a variety of activities throughout the year. “We hear from the hospital about where the money is needed and then we decide as a committee where the money goes. But it goes to a project that wouldn’t otherwise be funded,” she said.
The couple have two children, a five-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son, who were born at Michael Garron. The nurses and doctors “are really fantastic, but they’ve been really suffering from lack of funding,” Ms. Seaborn said.
Mr. Currie will be among the performers on May 21 and he’s been practising some of his jokes with Ms. Seaborn. He tried one just after she gave birth to their son. “I turned to Claire and I said, ‘You know what? Giving birth and stand-up comedy are similar because it’s all about the delivery.’”
Ms. Seaborn’s response? An eye-roll and a curt, “Know your audience.”