Four rookie comedians will take to the stage tonight in a ‘Chuckles for Charity’ event to raise money for Sheffield’s hospitals.
After selling-out the Leadmill last year, Sheffield Hospitals Charity are bringing their unique event to Steamworks, which will see four brave participants perform a comedy set despite not having any prior stand-up experience.
Lord Mayor Safiya Saeed, John Henshall, Dominic NG and Martin Havenhand have all had weekly training sessions from a professional comedian since January and will be hoping to get the audience laughing in their first ever stand-up gigs this evening.
Corinna Pearce, SHC Marketing and Communications Officer, said: “The only training they’ve had is in the last few weeks with a comedian called Anthony J Brown.
“Last year they raised over £17,000 – they do their own fundraising and then there’s tickets sold and we do merch on the night. We also do a competition where, for each comedian, you can vote as long as you donate.
“This year, there’s not a specific appeal that it’s going to, it just goes towards the charity as a whole so it could go towards any project that we deem suitable. For example, we’ve recently just announced that we’ve funded a £1.5 million robot at the Northern General.”
While training, the four comedians have been fundraising for Sheffield’s hospitals, community teams, mental health and specialist services.
They have all hit their personal targets of £1,000 and have collectively raised a remarkable £4,500, with the Sheffield Hospitals Charity still encouraging people to donate here.
“The hope is everybody comes, has a nice time and donates some money to us,” added Ms Pearce. “Everybody likes a comedy night, everybody likes a laugh so the idea is that you come in good spirits and contribute to a great cause.
“Last year the comedians were amazing. We had someone who did a David Bowie set and did a comedy song based on that – he was dressed up, it was great.
“It’s all for a good cause and it should be a really good night, full of laughter.”
Tickets cost £18 and can be purchased here or on the door, and even if you can’t attend you can still donate.