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" Comedy Bash 2 Match "
to benefit Joann Cho
Henry Cho will headline the " Comedy Bash 2 Match " to benefit
Joann Cho and other patients like her.
The event will take place
on Sunday, January 27, 2002 at the beautiful Barclay Theatre
in Irvine. Showtime is at 7 p.m.
There will be a bone marrow drive from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
before the show, just outside the theatre to try and find
a marrow match for Joann Cho. The show will feature comedians
Bobby Lee, star of the FOX hit series " Mad TV " and Pat
Leborio, who will be seen in the next Austin Powers movie.
4 other outstanding young comedians will fill the bill.
Paul Secrest, known as PJ The DJ on 94.3 FM Cool Radio,
will host the show. Henry Cho, a world wide headline act,
was a series regular on the hit sitcom " Designing Women
", and has been on HBO Comedy Hour, Comedy Central, and
performed several times on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
When Henry Cho heard about the effort the children of Simmons
Elementary School in Garden Grove put out for their favorite
schoolteacher, he decided to help. Joann Cho (No relation
to Henry), a wife, mother, and third grade schoolteacher
from Anaheim, found out during a routine post child birth
physical that she had leukemia and would need a bone marrow
transplant to save her life. Desperate to save their teacher's
life, the third graders organized a bone marrow drive, but
despite the valiant effort, no match was found. Consumed
with tears, many of the students made a plea to Joann's
Church members at a Sunday service to help save their teacher.
The church decided to test everyone to see if a marrow match
could be found for Joann. Again, there was no luck. The
only church member who did not get tested was local comedian
Ron McGehee. An illness prevented him from taking place
in the marrow drive. Ron then decided to put on a comedy
show to help raise money for Joann. He tried but seemed
to hit many road blocks. The situation seemed to be calling
for a miracle.
The Miracle that the students from Simmons Elementary were
hoping for just may have come. Ron turned to fellow comedian
and close friend Pat Leborio, known in the comedy world
as " The Razorman." Many in the entertainment industry think
Leborio is a rising comedy star. He has been seen on Comedy
Central, MTV, and just finished shooting a part in the next
Austin Powers movie, which will hit theaters sometime next
summer. " I knew Pat had the connections to possibly make
something happen ", said McGehee. After hearing Ron's story,
Leborio immediately went to work. He called popular Asian
comedian Henry Cho, who agreed to headline the show. " My
father-in-law is battling a serious disease, so something
like this really hits home ", said Henry Cho. Leborio then
called Bobby Lee, who was on the Mad TV set at the time
going through rehearsals. Bobby was very moved and decided
to join the show. To insure quick ticket sales, Leborio
managed to land Paul Secrest to host the show and promote
it on 94.3 FM Cool Radio. Secrest, who goes by PJ The DJ,
has well over 500,000 listeners and is one of Southern California's
hottest young radio talents. When Leborio and McGehee filled
the show with Bernadette Balagtas, star of the critically
acclaimed movie " The Debut " with Dante Brasco and " As
Good As It Gets " with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, they
knew they had built an event. Dat Phan, a very popular San
Diego comic, and Yamo, the guy in the Southwest commercial
that has the misfortune of having a bird turd land on him
will join McGehee in rounding out the show of 7 comedians.
A3M (Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches) will be putting
on the all important bone marrow drive before the show.
" Getting people to the bone marrow drive is the most important
part of the event ", explained Pat Leborio. An average A3M
bone marrow drive has between 50 to 150 people show up.
Leborio is trying to smash the existing record and put together
the largest bone marrow drive in history with over 20,000.
Yes, that is correct, 20,000 people. Leborio claims " when
you have the star talent we have and the means to reach
over a million people, anything less would be a failure."
Joann Cho said " Even if this does not help me, there must
be a reason why I got this disease. I want to help other
patients like me as much as I can." The story of Joann Cho
has certainly done one thing for sure. It has inspired a
lot of people to help. An entire community is rallying behind
her and the cries of 40 third grade kids. " When you see
children in emothional pain and the bravery that Joann Cho
is displaying, it has a tendency to hit people's sense of
responsibility " said A3M Task Force Leader Sharon Sugiyama.
Someone truly thinks this is a modern day miracle. Pat Leborio
tells an interesting story. Four years ago I was dating
a wonderful girl, who really supported my career at a time
when things weren't going very well. One night, she told
me that one day I would help someone I had no reason to
help and that it would change my life and the lives of thousands
of other people forever. I really believe in my heart that
Joann Cho is the person she was talking about and I will
go to complete exhaustion for this event if I have to. This
isn't the Olympic finals of the 100 meters, where the second
place finisher gets a silver medal. In this kind of race,
the runner-up gets a coffin. Second place is not an option.
We must succeed for Joann and others like her.
The fact that so many people have accepted the challenge
of putting on this huge event has turned this into one of
the biggest and most interesting stories of the year. "
I don't think there is a television station, a radio station,
or a newspaper in Southern California, who hasn't been introduced
to Joann's story ", said a surprised Ron McGehee. The event
has received a flood of support from several big places
to come up with the raffle prizes. A spokesperson for The
Los Angeles Lakers said yesterday that the team (Lakers)
has sponsored A3M in the past and that they have heard all
about Joann Cho's story and may step forward to help out.
Several Hollywood talent agencies, management firms, and
studios have offered truck loads of memorabilia for the
raffle. The story got as far North as Oakland, where the
AFC Western Division Champion Oakland Raiders were floored
by the story. " When I was informed about this story from
L.A. media contacts, I knew we had to do something ", said
Roxanne Kosarsycki, who is one of the Raider's Attorneys.
" I told the team and they all got together and signed a
football to be given away in the comedy show raffle. We
are going to get other autographed memorabilia down to them
as well ", explained Kosarsycki. Everyone can only hope
this kind of notorioty will help sell tickets and get people
to that bone marrow drive.
Tickets for the " Comedy Bash 2 Match " will be available
on January 2nd at Ticketmaster, The Barclay Theatre in Irvine,
Studio Wonderland in Santa Ana, and A3M in Los Angeles.
Balcony seats will be sold at 20 dollars and all other seats
will go for 30 dollars. The tickets are 100 % tax deductible.
Raffle tickets will also be sold at the bone marrow drive
and at the door before the show. Celebrity autographs and
memorabilia will be given out to winning ticket holders
throughout the comedy show. For more information on the
" Comedy Bash 2 Match ", call Sharon Sugiyama at 1-888-A3M-HOPE.
Donations are always greatly appreciated. Checks can be
made out to Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches. There address
is 231 East Third Street, suite G107. Los Angeles, CA. 90013.
Please write Comedy Bash 2 Match on the memo line of the
check.
By Lawrence Piper
Show Biz Central Irvine, CA.
December 28, 2001.
