Celebs catch the DRCF event

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Laughter continues to fill local places in Oshawa as the Durham Region Comedy Festival (DRCF) brings comedians throughout the region to put smiles on faces.
On April 17th at Fazio’s Restaurant & Wine Experience, Oshawa comedian Jeff Elliott began the evening of entertainment. The local celeb was then followed by 10 comedians who continued to crack-up the audience of about 100 people.
 

 
Ben Johnson also made an appearance for an autograph session for his new book Seoul to Soul. The book shows Johnson’s side of the event and aftermath of his Olympic gold medal win in 1988 in Korea that was stripped from him after testing revealed steroid use. Johnson donate $8 from every book sold that evening, explained Rich Weisz, president of the DRCF.
$500 was raised that night, bringing the grand total of events so far to $620. DRCF hopes of making a $25,00 – $50,000 donation for Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The DRCF is currently hosting a competition to name their mascot. “I said let’s call it the joker, but my team said ‘NO!’ Instead, they said ‘Let’s have a contest’,” Weisz laughed.
 

 
As September nears, Weisz is still working out the details of the comedy parade that will feature people dressed as famous comedians like the Three Stooges and will also allow kids to dress up as comic actors like Superman.
“This way it is in a safe environment (for kids to dress up) rather than going home-to-home on Halloween,” said Weisz.
That’s not all of his big plans – Weisz is determined to attract actors to the City of Oshawa as the Comedy Festival will be held the same week as the Toronto International Film Festival.
May 4th will mark the next open mic night held by DRCF, with a contest that will allow the winner to perform at the GM Centre.
Story by Ana Pautassi. Images by Mary Lou Naccarato.