Lisa Condit spoke with James Dorsey, one of five comedians coming together for a special fundraiser for the Ava Roy Fund this April. Read on for highlights from the interview, or listen to the full interview below.
Lisa: James, you have gotten these comedians together to help raise money for the daughter of a fallen firefighter, with 100% of proceeds benefitting the Ava Roy Fund.
James: It’s super important because obviously it hits home. A friend of mine by the name of Rich Durant, who is also a Worcester firefighter, approached me because he really wanted to put together a fundraiser to support the Ava Roy Fund. We were able to get basically five headliners, and it’s really going to be an amazing show.
Lisa: It is! You’re very humble, James, because what you’re not telling our listeners is that you were a winner of the “Catch a Rising Star” competition. Tell us about the response you’ve gotten from these comedians.
James: My first contact was Jimmy Dunn. He has firefighters in his family, and he is excited to be a part of this. The fact that he is headlining… he was excited about that. I reached out to Tony V, not only because he is super with fundraisers, but he is really good friends with Jimmy. Chris Tabb, he’s just great. People love him. He’s a lot of fun. The same thing with Kendra Cunningham. They were all ecstatic.
Lisa: It’s really nice that people can work together to turn a tragedy into a way for people to come together, to heal and to do something really important for the family of a fallen hero. We all want to be able to help. We at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory are so excited to be able to help put this together with you. We really thank everybody for their support.
James: We are looking forward to a great night for a great cause. It’s great to put some smiles on people’s faces in the times of tragedy and let people escape for a little while and enjoy themselves, while at the same time benefitting a great cause.
