Mental health issue the focus of comedy night

The Enriched Life Fund is hosting a comedy night at Absolute Comedy to stir up the laughs on Nov. 12 to bring joy to young individuals struggling with poor mental health. 

Hosted by Emily Voss and her father, Richard Voss, a social worker at CHEO, they hope to generate awareness of the psychological challenges facing children and raise $2,000 for their scholarship fund. 

ELF is a charity created by CHEO clinicians for children and youth who deal with various mental health issues. The charity funds scholarships for young individuals to participate in recreational activities, such as dance, sports and visual arts to promote self-confidence and give them special activities to look forward to. 

Emily Voss, an occasional teacher with Ottawa’s public and Catholic school who works with children facing mental health issues, says she has firsthand experience of the positive impact recreational activities can have on youths and their self-esteem. She says she chose to have the charity event at Absolute Comedy, located on Preston Street in Little Italy. Voss said she chose the venue because it would be a fun activity for attendees to participate in and that the staff so far has been a great help, despite them not having to do so. 

“I noticed on the website you can sell them for however much money you want, and they run a normal and often very funny show. It’s a very nice thing for them to do,” said Voss.

Madi Kein, a nursing student at the University of Ottawa, heard about the fundraiser through an invite from a close friend on Facebook. She intends to go see the show to support a good cause and have a few laughs. 

“This is an important cause to me because I think that mental illness is often overlooked, especially in youth,” said Kein. “I think this event is a fun way to raise awareness for the cause as well as to raise money for the ELF to help improve resources for children suffering from mental illness.” 

Absolute Comedy hosts about 100 fundraising shows per year, and always attracts a crowd, says manager Jeff Tanguay. , Such events have always been popular since the club’s opening in 2004, he notes. 

“It’s a win-win situation. It fills our room up if it’s a slower night and we get to help really good people out.”