If you love to laugh and also love donating to awesome causes, you’re going to lose your mind at the Paid Protest comedy show/fundraiser, tonight at Starr Bar at 7 p.m. The show will feature stand-up performances from New York comedians to benefit the Democratic Socialists of America.
Bushwick resident, comedian, and co-host of tonight’s show/fundraiser, Alex Ptak, says that while admission to the show is free, any donations they receive will benefit the DSA, and help to save the Bedford-Union Armory from being developed into a luxury building. “We’re raising money that goes directly towards the causes we’re working on at a local level,” says Ptak. “So if you come to the show and stay involved in whatever the cause is that month, you actually get to see that money get put into action.”
Tonight’s show is the second Paid Protest event that Ptak and his co-host Anders Lee have put on since the presidential election last November. “The last show was fantastic. It was my first time running an event at Starr Bar. They were cool and very helpful,” Ptak continues. “We filled out the back room and raised almost 300 dollars to bus people from New York to the People’s Climate March in Washington DC.”
To follow up the success from his last fundraising show, Ptak is looking forward to seeing the local community come out and show support. “People come out and get to meet up with like-minded lefty types without having to pick up signs and yell at any buildings. It is nice to sometimes not yell at buildings,” he says. “I am excited to see literally every comic on this lineup do stand up, because they are all incredible performers you’d have a hard time scooping into one place outside of NYC. So that’s pretty cool, too, actually.”
Comedians tonight include Mary Houlihan, Daniel Simonsen, Elsa Waithe, Raghav Mehta, and Josh Gondelman (of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” fame!).
To learn more about the show’s line-up, visit the Paid Protest 2 – A Bigger DSA Comedy Fundraiser Facebook page, and to learn more about the DSA and the petition to make the Bedford Armory affordable, click here and here. We love fun events that double as awesome activism. See you tonight at Starr Bar!
Featured image courtesy of Starr Bar.