First comedy gig at Virginia Tech

The town of Blacksburg will tomorrow host its first comedy night since Cho Seung-hui’s murderous spree.

The venue for the Laughter For Love benefit will be a popular student haunt, Attitudes bar, directly opposite the campus, with proceeds going to help victims and their families.

It might not appear the most appropriate fundraiser, but organisers insist that comedy is a ‘healthy’ part of the healing process.

The bar’s Bryan Kay told the local Roanoke Times newspaper: ‘People really need something to do. They need something to watch other than the news. It's going to provide a required alleviation from dealing with the events in the last few days,’ he added.

‘There's a time to remember and a time to forget, and the comedy show is a time to forget.’

The benefit was organised by Summit Comedy, which supplies acts for the bar’s regular Wednesday-night comedy shows. President Chuck Johnson said: ‘I just felt a bond to the school to jump out and do something.’

Dale Hoffman, pictured, one of the nine acts on the bill said he won't alter his set – which involves a miniature drum set – to reflect the occasion.

‘Fortunately, I'm kind of a novelty act, and I have nothing socially relevant to say, ever,’ he told the paper.

‘My philosophy on comedy has always been that we're bombarded by the news every day about the horrible things going on in the world and for one and a half hours on one night, it's nice to completely forget about that and laugh for absolutely no reason.’

Published: 24 Apr 2007