Tonight at Uptown Bills: Comedian Tom Garland (plus Open Mic). 7 pm. And now a few words from Tom Garland himself: Im Headlining a charity gig at Uptown Bills Coffee House in #IowaCity after their Open Mic. The show is absolutely FREE to the public, Ill be performing clean and there will be a couple Special Guests joining me. There will be a donation jar out during the show, but ALL PROCEEDS will go directly to Uptown Bills and their efforts. I would REALLY encourage you to come support them and Ill explain why below.. (Sorry in advance for the long post Im about to do, but I think some people see this venue on my schedule and have no idea what it is or what they are about. I also posted this awhile back for another charity effort I did there...) Uptown Bills has made such an impact over the years it was the subject of the 1981 movie Bill starring Mickey Rooney & Dennis Quaid (you can watch the full movie free on YouTube). Uptown Bills Coffee House was formed behind the inspiration of Bill Sackter, who was a mentally handicapped transient man who spent 44 years in an institution, unable to read or write, with no family or place to go. The University of Iowa community gave Bill a gathering place where people of all abilities are welcome, where there are employment and micro-enterprise opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and continues to serve these tasks as well as being a community forum on abilities awareness. More simply put: these guys really do a LOT to help the mentally & physically disabled and the local community in general. To me personally, its even been so much more. Over the past 3 years Ive been dropping in there on and off to perform. Tom Gilsenan, their Executive Director, has not only given me a place to work on my (once extremely rough) clean act, hes given me very a positive place to hang out and escape the often unhealthy lifestyle associated with stand-up comedy. Ive never had a rude crowd there. Ive never felt discouraged there. Ive never felt anything but accepted, loved and happy to be a part of it. Comics can attest, those feelings usually dont go hand-in-hand with stand-up. It helped dig me out of a very negative and destructive place I was in, not only with my act, but my personal life in general. If it has done this for me, I cant imagine what it has done for the patrons that actually have mental & physical disabilities. The aid is not limited tho. I have personally seem Gilsenan and the other volunteers there reach out to help the transient, substance-addicted, elderly, lost & lonely and generally troubled without the blink of an eye in any way they can. I cant tell you how hard it is at times, even as a grown ass man and a road comic who sees everything, to walk out of there holding back tears of joy when I see what they do for the community. I cant stress enough what this place means to me and Iowa City in general. Yes, its a party town, but its also a town of good Samaritans, and Uptown Bills really drives that home. Come join me as I entertain them for a full Headline set tonight and please come and support the cause in anyway you can. If youre still not convinced, check out the trailer for this documentary made about Bill and their efforts. Its only 3 minutes long and you can see real footage of Bill and how theyve helped him, and others, turn life around in the right direction. (Also, the real Bill sings In Heaven There Is No Beer and its AWESOME haha!) https://youtube/watch?v=S43_vPhthyE
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 22:12:28 +0000
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