2009 Conference Comedy Night...
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David, along with 10 conference attendees (newly trained as stand-up comics) and some very special guests, will put on a show that looks at the lighter side of taking meds, seeing counselors, getting diagnosed, and surviving the mental health system.
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Stand Up For Mental Health aims to reduce public stigma around mental illness and spread a message of hope, confidence, and empowerment. Those with mental illness are always being told what they can’t do. In this show, they prove what they CAN do!
What the Experience Meant to
Last Year's (2008) Stand-Up Comics
"Doing the DBSA Comedy Show was an EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. All of us comics worked hard as a team with David as the leader. David took our life experiences and helped us turn them into jokes. I would not have been able to do the show without the support of my co-comics and David, who went beyond the call of duty."
--Donald Farrell (San Jose, CA)
"The opportunity to stand before a crowd and make them laugh with me, not at me, was such a truly exhilarating experience that it practically makes me feel lucky to deal with bipolar disorder on a daily basis."
--Susan Parker (Purcellville, VA)
--Rave Meyer (Oklahoma City, OK)
What Last Year's (2008) Comedy Night
Attendees Thought
“I just had to contact you to say how phenomenal and appropriate the ‘Stand Up for Mental Health’ with David Granirer was as an ending to an informative, helpful and…entertaining conference."
--Attendee at DBSA 2008 National Conference's Stand Up Comedy Night
Watch Clips of DBSA 2008 National Conference Stand-up Comics
Video cllips of all of last year's conference stand-up comics are now featured in the Entertainment section of the media room on FacingUs.org. This might be you next year!
Watch Clips of David's Routine
David is featured in the Entertainment section of the Media Room on FacingUs.org. Check out his hilarious perspective on Facing Stereotypes and Telemarketers.
2008 Voice Award Winner, Cracking Up, Features Granirer's "Stand Up for Mental Health"
Last May in Hollywood, Cracking Up--a documentary film featuring David Granirer's "Stand Up for Mental Health" program--won a prestigious SAMHSA Voice Award. These awards honor writers and producers who incorporate dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of individuals with mental health problems into film and television productions. Cracking Up is a documentary about people with mental illness who embark on a quirky quest to become stand-up comics; this life-affirming film followed 11 courageous people who live with mental illness as they pursue a year of stand-up comedy. The course they took--Stand Up for Mental Health--is part fun and part therapy. And it's the brainchild of David Granirer, a Vancouver counselor, stand-up comic, and the author of The Happy Neurotic. “It’s like The Full Monty except people want us to keep our clothes on,” he says.
“Doing stand-up comedy has had an amazing effect on the people in the course. For the first time in their lives, they have embraced the word crazy, and learned to laugh at their mental illness—and their audiences are laughing right along with them. They have discovered a talent they never dreamt they had.”
--David Granirer
Learn More about "Stand Up for Mental Health"
Visit http://www.standupformentalhealth/ to learn more about this innovative and empowering program.
but you can read all
about it here:
