A Lawyer Walks into a Bar...

If you enter lawyer joke into any online search engine, you will find more than 700,000 web pages filled with jokes about lawyers. If you search lawyer + stand-up comedian you will be lucky to find more than a dozen relevant web pages. Enter Ian Gordon, a third year law student and a part-time stand-up comedian who has been performing for nearly four years. “Lawyers like to perform,” he says, “So stand-up is kind of a natural fit.”

Ian has always been interested in comedy, and at a friend’s urging Ian started attending open mic nights at various comedy clubs while completing his Master’s degree in Neuroscience in Calgary. Although law school currently keeps Ian from performing stand-up routines as much as he would like, he’s dusting off his comedic chops and has been busy writing new material for his next gig as opening act for headliner Andrew Grose at Comedy for a Cure at the Laugh Shop on Thursday, November 5, 2009.

Comedy for a Cure is part of the Law Student’s Philanthropy annual fundraising for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, and this is Ian’s second year as opening act for the show. “This is a cause that is easy to get behind and support because nearly everyone has been touched by the disease,” says Ian. “It’s prevalent in my family. I am actually dedicating the show to my aunt who recently lost her battle with cancer.”

Does Ian tell lawyer jokes? Yup. “I’ve actually penned a few new ones for the show,” he says. “I think that in general, most lawyers enjoy laughing at themselves.”

In addition to Comedy for a Cure, the Law Student’s Philanthropy is also organizing Cuts for a Cure. Thirteen brave students and faculty members—including Ian, who has been growing his hair and ‘Grizzly Adams’ beard specifically for the event—will have their hair shorn earlier in the day on November 5 at the Law Centre.

In the past four years, the Law Student’s Philanthropy has raised in excess of $60,000 for the Alberta Cancer Foundation, which supports institutions such as the Cross Cancer and the Tom Baker Cancer Centres, as well as smaller centre’s throughout the Province.

Tickets to Comedy for a Cure can be purchased online at www.thelaughshop.ca