CLARION — David Granirer, counselor, stand-up comic, mental health keynote speaker and author of “The Happy Neurotic: How Fear and Angst Can Lead to Happiness and Success,” will present Stand Up for Mental Health a comedy show, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, in Clarion University Theater, Suites on Main North. Tickets are free and the event is open to the public.
“We hope it will be a balance of education and comedy,” said Tom Crissman, student support assistant in the Center for Health and Wellness, which is sponsoring the performance. “Humor can be a useful tool to challenge others’ thinking by looking at things from a different angle. It challenges the cultural stigma of mental health by looking at it from an angle of those experiencing it.”
Granirer performs, maintains a counseling practice and teaches the course, Stand-Up Comedy Clinic, at Langara College in Vancouver, where he takes people from all walks of life who have had a secret desire to do stand-up comedy, and, after eight weeks, has them on stage performing at a comedy club.
“I’ve had students overcome long-standing depressions and phobias, not to mention increasing their confidence and self-esteem,” Granirer said. “There’s something incredibly healing about telling a roomful of people exactly who you are and having them laugh and cheer.”
“Humor is part of positive self-care, not only for those experiencing it, but also for those giving it,” Crissman said. “Laughing, and being with others who laugh, increases our resilience.”
A pioneer in the use of humor to increase wellness, reduce stress, and cope with change, Granirer has taught stand-up comedy to recovering addicts and cancer patients. His work was profiled in the Global TV documentary, “Laughing Through the Pain,” and in the Voice Award winning documentary, “Cracking Up.”
He founded Stand Up For Mental Health, a program teaching stand-up comedy to people with mental illness as a way of building self-esteem and fighting public stigma. Granirer developed the idea from watching students in his Stand-Up Comedy Clinic course.
Crissman noted that the performance supports the mission of the Center for Health and Wellness, to promote the holistic wellbeing of Clarion’s students and enhancing their university experience by providing preventative education.
More information is available at www.standupformentalhealth.com.