Changing How People Look at Mental Illness One Laugh at a Time-The Full Monty Meets the Bad News Bears

Stand Up For Mental Health has been described in a CBC TV documentary as "The Full Monty meets the Bad News Bears". Imagine what the live stage version looks like! You'll have a chance to find out on Sunday April 13, 7pm at the Art's Club Stage on Granville Island. It's our first fund raiser of 2008.

Just in case you think i 'm writing all the press releases too, am happy to quote CBC Doc Zone on the Passionate Eye Documentary they made about us, Cracking Up. They actually filmed the first year of the Stand Up For Mental Health program, in 2004. Our first graduating class included the wonderful Paul Decarie....

"Paul Decarie rolls out of bed in his tiny apartment on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Shuffling to the bathroom, he gulps down some pills, lights a cigarette, and begins an intense monologue with himself in the mirror. Paul's mental illness may have relegated him to the fringes of the city, but this is no delusional indulgence. He's rehearsing for one of the biggest nights of his life - his debut as a professional comic. When he steps up to the microphone, it will be the end of an incredible journey that began one year ago. That's when 11 courageous people signed up for a pioneering course that teaches stand up comedy to people with mental illness.

Described as The Full Monty meets The Bad News Bears, Cracking Up follows the class on their quest to find acceptance through stand up comedy – from their first fumbles with the microphone to their triumphant graduation show in front of a sold out audience at one of Vancouver's biggest theatres. Part fun, part therapy the course is the brainchild of counselor and standup comedian, David Granirer.

"Here's a group of people who have suffered the stigma of mental illness for most of their lives,' says Granirer. "They're stared at, strangers whisper behind their backs. Many of them have been in and out of institutions – all of them are medicated. And now here they are, learning to laugh at mental illness. When you think about it, it's really quite amazing.'

Shot by an award-winning production team in High Definition, Cracking Up is cinema verité - a raw, powerful, inexorably honest hour of documentary television."

Come and join us for a hysterical evening of stage verite, Headlined by comedian Mike MacDonald.Visit www.standupformentalhealth.com to order tickets, or buy the CBC Passionate Eye Documentary Cracking Up.

And Please remember to vote for us in the New Year's Resolution Vote: changing how people look at mental illness. Thank you so much for your time and support.

pat