Comedy Abroad Introduces Fundraiser Stand-up Shows

Jon Selig, the Founder of Comedy Abroad, produces English stand-up fundraiser comedy shows throughout the world to benefit local communities. Comedy Abroad might be part of our Travel Massive Montreal chapter, but they partner up with registered nonprofits across the world and jointly market shows to travellers passing through. Everyone comes together for a night of professional stand-up comedy, and the ticket proceeds benefit the communities which their nonprofit partners serve.

Want to learn more? Read on! 

What inspired you to create this initiative? 

I love to travel, perform stand-up comedy, and helping to make a difference wherever I can. Tie in my disdain for awful Montreal winters, and producing fundraiser tours in warm places seemed like a pretty logical thing to try.  I’ve been producing shows in Montreal for travellers/visitors to town, and love the energy of crowds when funny comics push the right buttons. I wanted to entertain people in unique places and use comedy to raise funds for worthwhile causes.  It all made too much sense to not try!

Is there a unique story of how it came to be?

I was staying at a place in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Backpackers and expats were hanging out, and there was an open mic happening – right on their dock where they also had a bar. I had been doing stand-up a few months and thought about doing some of my material.  For a variety of reasons, sound judgement prevailed and I decided against it, but thought that it would be cool to do comedy there. That day was the inspiration for a lot of my efforts.

How is your initiative financed? Where do donations go or how are they used?

We’re a social enterprise. We’re a fundraising vehicle for nonprofits in the developing world. Proceeds from tickets typically go to overall management and overhead associated with keeping the lights on, and they also help covering the costs associated with our comics participating.  Nonprofits have limited funds and we present an opportunity to help ensure their sustainability so they can keep doing amazing work.  

Travel & tourism brands have a role to play in making shows happen, whether it be through sponsorship or promotional support.   

What has been your biggest success or accomplishment?

We’re still relatively new, but we are proud of the net dollars we’ve raised ($18,315 USD) for our 4 nonprofit partners.  We want to grow both those numbers in Fall/Winter 2016/17.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Finding the right nonprofit partners in the right places is a huge challenge, and planning and logistics for our tours are definitely rough – but we get it all done.

Having said that, we’re booking our fall 2016/winter 2017 tours, and always looking to speak with nonprofits who want to work with us – particularly ones located in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, and Panama.

Can you share an inspiring story when you felt your project was most fulfilling?

A day after our 2nd and final fundraiser show for FIMRC, we visited their tiny pediatric & obstetrics clinic in Las Salinas. Nicaragua is the second-poorest country in the western hemisphere, and FIMRC’s Project Limon is in a very rural area where the challenges the people face are visible and up-front. Being at the clinic helps show us that our efforts as comics were about something more than just entertaining crowds.

Do you have any tips for aspiring do-gooders who want to give back or start their own social project?

Find something you’re passionate about, and combine it with an angle that no one’s currently pursuing. There’s a lot of tools out there (online and offline) that can enable innovation.  If you have an idea, hit Google to see if anyone else is doing something similar.  If it’s already happening, try and get involved to further efforts already underway.  If it’s not – make it happen,  It’s also OK – and advisable –  to work on projects that simultaneously serve others and yourself.  The two are not mutually exclusive.

How can someone help or get involved?

We’re looking at producing a larger number of shows in more countries. We’d like to find more registered nonprofits to partner with, and corporate sponsors and donors who want to help remove financial risks from nonprofits and comics. We’d also like to find larger hospitality and tourism partners who can use their networks to spread the word about any upcoming shows.

Purposeful Traveler is a series that profiles inspiring people or projects making a purposeful change to the way we travel. You can connect with Jon Selig and Comedy Abroad on Travel Massive, Twitter and Facebook. If you know of a Purposeful Traveler who should be featured, email us.