Pitch2Punchline raises $10,000 for mental health charity, batyr
Eighteen Mumbrella readers took the Sydney Opera House by storm on Monday night, performing stand-up comedy in front of more than 300 industry peers to raise money for youth mental health charity batyr.
Pitch2Punchline, organised by Shambles Communications founder Gareth Eden-Styche, saw the brave 18 put through a six-week mentoring program led by TV comedian and presenter Cam Knight.
Kath Solly of the Pedestrian Group performing at Pitch2Punchline (image: Mal Lyons)
They honed their material in workshops and at open mic nights before revealing the results to a packed crowd at the iconic Sydney venue.
Opening proceedings, Knight commented: “It took me 16 years to play the Opera House, and this lot get to do it after six weeks. Which goes to show – money talks.”
The event raised $10,000 for batyr, which aims to increase awareness of mental health issues among young people.
Mumbrella’s Martin Lane (image: Mal Lyons)
The charity sends speakers into schools, universities and workplaces to share their experiences of living with, and overcoming, anxiety and depression.
Eden-Styche said: “We would like to congratulate every one of our Stand Out Stand Ups for taking part, and all of their employers for creating working environments where their positive hilarity can shine. We also want to thank all of our sponsors and supporters. We haven’t laughed so much in years. I guess we’ll have to do it again.”
M&C Saatchi’s Ben Stainlay (Image: Mal Lyons)
Mumbrella CEO Martin Lane, who performed on the night, said: “If someone had told me when I was backpacking around Australia 25 years ago that one day I would be doing stand-up at the Sydney Opera House I never would have believed them. And to do it on behalf of batyr was even more special. Everyone involved should be really proud to have taken part.”
If you would like to take part or support Pitch2Punchline in the future, contact laugh@pitch2punchline.com.
The 18 Stand Out Stand Ups were:
- James Hanley, PHD
- Kath Solly, Pedestrian Group
- Nick O’Grady, Quantcast
- Jessica O’Reilly, Comfort is for Wimps
- Martin Lane, Mumbrella
- Yoav Tourel, Outbrain
- Harrison Argyle, Bohemia
- Anthony Wong, Starcom
- Sean Best, UM
- Monica Rosenfeld, WordStorm PR
- Paul Merrill, Bauer Media Group
- Ben Stainlay, M&C Saatchi
- Shive Prema, journalist
- Gus Valencia, CBS Interactive
- Callum Davies, Spark Foundry
- Marie El Daghl, Training George
- Tomas Haffenden, The Works
- Fleur Steinberg, MCN
$10K! How bloody good!!
Super proud, such a great cause and an awesome event – definitely recommend Pitch2Punchline to other media people wanting to try something a little different. Get involved 🙂
Thanks so much for organising Gareth!!
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Excellent stuff! It was an unreal event to be part of and very pleasing to see how much money it raised for Batyr.
Great work Gareth.
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I think Tomas Haffenden was ‘best in show’ as they say in the biz!
Thanks Gareth and Cam for an amazing event to support an awesome cause!
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Congratulation FS! Nice work (great dress too)
😉
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