Christian comic headlines benefit for Mustard Seed

Page 4

It will be an evening of laughter as funnyman Brad Stine brings his comedic commentary to Edmonton for the Mustard Seed Benefit Comedy on Sept. 24 at the Winspear.

The Mustard Seed church is dedicated to the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of people in Edmonton's inner city. The benefit is being organized by the Friends of the Mustard Seed. Proceeds will go to help pay for some of their activities to help the poor of the area, including evening meals, Thanksgiving dinner and a food bank.

"This is the first time we've worked into the comedy arts scene so we're quite excited about that. I think it's a fresh way to target some of the entertainment field," said Kimberly Johnston, with Friends of the Mustard Seed. "We thought this would be a fresh way to, number one, raise money for the Mustard Seed and also a fresh way to bring the gospel into the secular community without it being intimidating. Some people are a little intimidated going into a church."

Johnston is referring to Stine's particular comedy stylings. His clean or Christian comedy has been showcased on MTV's Half Hour Comedy Hour and A&E's Evening at the Improv.

Stine said he loves coming to Canada and hopes he can entertain the crowd and, as a side benefit, get them thinking about religion and about helping out the Mustard Seed.

"This is what everybody does. The only thing I'm doing differently is I'm saying 'I have a specific religious belief. Let's see if we can explore that within the context of a comedy show,'" said Stine. "The show is not driven by a religious point or view, but those areas come up. But it makes it a pretty unique show because people have not seen philosophy mixed with comedy before, so it does make it intriguing to people."

"This is one of the first events we've had like this that's been prearranged by us and that's being handled by somebody outside of the Mustard Seed," said Les Westwood, director of operations for the Mustard Seed.

Stine said he's excited to be a part of the comedy night and hopes he can be helpful and "raise money so they can keep going forever."

"I appreciate being involved with something that is really trying to help the community and show Christ not through talking about it, but by living it," said Stine. "If my comedy and my ability to perform that I've learned over 20 years is able to intrigue people enough to come out and see a show and through that then they can help donate and give to an organization like this that is so adamant about taking care of its citizens, then I'm honored."