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2012
PRESENTING SPONSORS

2011
PRESENTING SPONSOR

2011
PLATINUM SPONSOR

In recognition of our 2010 Sponsors
THANK YOU!

2010
PRESENTING SPONSORS

2010
PLATINUM SPONSORS

2010
GOLD SPONSORS

Comedy Courage Copyright

COMEDY COURAGE
TM
Canada's 1st & Largest Comedy Benefit Concert
In Support of Mental Health Wellness

"Helping Our Mental Health Community Help Themselves Through
LAUGHTER, COMEDY & COURAGE"

JOIN US IN THE MAIN THEATRE — MAY 9, 2012

in the newly refurbished historic grandeur of the
1927 Columbia Theatre and the New Home of

Our 2012 Presenting Sponsors
NEW WESTMINSTER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
This will also be the new home for Comedy Courage!

2012 TEACHER/MENTOR AND COMEDIC HOST

We are excited to have Janice Bannister with us this year. Janice is a stand-up comic, a corporate speaker on Laughter Wellness, and she is former Psychiatric Nurse. She is the winner of the “Best New Female Comic” and “Best Comic with a Day Job”. She has performed at the Vancouver Comedy Festival, and is a regular at Lafflines Comedy Club.
Janice is the owner of Laughter Zone 101, a company that teaches stand-up comedy to teens and adults, and brings Laughter Wellness Workshops, for better mental health, to businesses and corporate events.
Janice says, “I am thrilled to be involved in Comedy Courage, as the Comedic Mentor and Instructor. I am a huge advocate for reducing the stigma around mental illness through the looking glasses of humour, and the best way to do that is to share our stories and issues with the community we live in. Laughter is such a powerful healing tool, and with collaboration and support of a group, that is the best therapy there is.
See you at the BIG SHOW!”

2012 GRAND EMCEE's -
RYAN WALTER, DAWN CHUBAI & PATRICK MALIHA

"I can't wait to listen, laugh, and leave you inspired to give from the heart as the emcee for the 2011 Comedy Courage Gala Dinner & Showcase “Laughing and Giving from the Heart” in support of Mental Health Wellness. I feel privileged to be part of a wonderful evening for such a worthy cause and really enjoy working with the Comedy Courage team. I encourage you to support this endeavour to help us break the stigma of mental health diagnoses thus creating awareness and empowering those individuals because they are a great value to our community! It gives me great pleasure to share the stage with Comic Great Patrick Maliha and TV Personality/Actor Singer Dawn Chubai!"

Host of Breakfast Television on City TV. "I'm thrilled to be a part of Comedy Courage and
make our BT viewers aware of this
important program in Metro Vancouver.”
"This is one of Metro Vancouver's most important events for Mental Health Wellness" says Dawn.

"Working with Ryan and Patrick is going to be so much fun and I am going to have the audience dig deep during the live auction."

It is an honour to have Dawn back as a Grand Emcee for 3 year running. THANK YOU DAWN

Lets welcome back Patrick Maliha, Award Winning On-Air Host/Comedian
Columnist: TV Week
Winner: - Favourite Local Radio Midday/Afternoon Show: TV Week Reader's Choice Awards - Favourite Vancouver Comedian: Georgia Straight Reader's Choice Awards 2008/09 World Record Holder: Most Impressions in One Minute. Patrick says, "It an honour to be a Grand Emcee for Comedy Courage for 2009-2010 and be asked again to support the wonderful Comedy Courage Production in support of Mental Health Wellness!

2012 DINNER HOST SPEAKERS

HOST SPEAKER

As Mayor of the City of Surrey, I am pleased to see the outpouring of support for this unique and one-of-a-kind event. It's encouraging to know that so many people are very focused on helping people with mental health diagnoses/issues in this way.

I'm excited to be a part of a major event like Comedy Courage it's an uplifting and beneficial program and I am honoured to help host Canada’s Largest Comedy Benefit Concert in support of Mental Health Wellness.

HOST SPEAKER

As the CEO of The Surrey Board of Trade we are committed to the community of Surrey. We feel that Comedy Courage and this event will help strengthen and educate our community to prove that people with real mental health diagnosis' and issues have the opportunity to “prove what they can do” to be productive members of our community.”

We are pleased to be a 2009 sponsor of the program and the Comedy Courage Gala Dinner & Showcase!

HOST SPEAKER

As a councillor for the City of Surrey I am honoured to be a dinner host speaker. My vision is that every resident has the right to belong, and that all are welcome. I believe it is through understanding our differences that we can see our commonalities.

Through the looking glasses of the 2011 Courageous Comics we will see our commonalities and that from time to time we recognize that we all have mental health issues. On Gala night it will be a rare connecting of souls.

HOST SPEAKER

Dr. Kerry Jang was elected to Vancouver City Council in 2008 having previously served in a number of volunteer capacities with focuses on meeting the needs of individual neighborhoods on issues such as mental health and homlessness. Kerry is also a professor of psychiatry at UBC.

"I am pleased to be involved with Comedy Courage because it provides and avenue of awareness through the power of laughter, comedy and courage. I am honoured to be a dinner host for the 2010 showcase!"

HOST SPEAKER
I

Fraser MacRae - Chief Superintendent
Surrey RCMP Detachment

"Mental health is something that touches us everyday. People with mental health issues are "US". They are our partners, our parents, brother, sister, child; they are our family, friends and co-workers in everyday life. Comedy Courage represents just that, the courage to challenge the stigmatization, to challenge our misconceptions and bias, and remind us that people with mental health issues are simply "US".

HOST SPEAKER
Peter Jackman
Vancouver Foundation and President of the Downtown Vancouver Association

I am honoured to be among the many dinner hosts for the Comedy Courage "Laughing and Giving from the Heart" Gala Dinner & Showcase for 2010.

Watching Comedy Courage grow from its infancy into a Canadian national non-profit and a BC society for the benefit of mental health has been spectacular. Comedy Courage makes mental health approachable to talk about in the workplace and at home.

Comedy Courage is the first program of its kind in Canada to teach people with mental health diagnoses and issues how to write a comedy routine about their own personal journeys to mental health wellness and deliver it before a live audience!

What began as a slow growing dream has turned into “Canada's Largest Comedy Benefit Concert” in support of Mental Health Wellness.

Comedy Courage’s vision is to empower individuals with mental health diagnoses and/or issues to discover their comedic talent and to use this talent to educate, create awareness, break the stigma of what it means to have a mental health diagnosis and to raise funds so we can continue to support people living with mental health diagnoses and/or issues.

Comedy Courage is proud to announce that in 2007 Canada Revenue Agency granted us our own national non-profit status in a record 7 weeks which made Canadian History so we can continue spreading awareness across Canada. Comedy Courage is also registered in British Columbia as a Society.

SNEAK PEEK SHORT FILM OF WHAT'S IN STORE FOR YOU
Produced by D-Vision Productions in association with Ken Muir

Very Special Thanks to
SHELLEY ECKSTEIN
Our Event and Volunteer Coordinator
and all of her wonderful volunteer teams including:

STAPLES DISTRICT MANAGER - VICTOR CHIMA
STAPLES GENERAL MANAGERS - KJ DARWAL, RANJ SEHDEV, RITA HARDEN,
DELMAR KYLLO, ANDREA BACKMAN
STAPLES STORE VOLUNTEERS - SAMMY GREFFORD, WAYNE VAN DER WESTHUIZEN,
JAMES SUTTON, KIM MEYER

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