The David Lynch Foundation, named after it’s founder, is instrumental in teaching people the benefits of mediation. “After I learned Transcendental Meditation on a four-day course, I truly believe first hand that this practice does wonders with your mind, body and soul,” said the comedian. “Daily practice is putting distance between myself and addiction.”

The fundraiser for Lynch’s foundation will be held at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. According to the foundations website, “At-risk populations suffer from epidemic levels of chronic stress and stress-related disorders—fueling violence, crime, soaring health costs, and compromising the effectiveness of education, health, rehabilitation, and vocational programs now in place.”

In the meantime Brand will be working on his new movie titled, “The President Stole my Girlfriend.” Brand explained the plot of the film to The Hollywood Reporter saying, “In this movie, the president steals the girlfriend of a sexy hippie—me, obviously. It was inspired by the night I naively invited (Warners Bros. president) Jeff Robinov for dinner.”

For more information about the fundraiser and the David Lynch Foundation, visit http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org.

You can check out some stand-up from Brand here, courtesy of YouTube:

The 12-hour show, co-hosted by Pardo, Matt Belknap and Pat Francis, will stream live at www.pardcast.com from the ACME Theater in Los Angeles and benefits Smile Train, an international children’s charity that provides necessary surgery for those born with a cleft lip or palate. To date, this philanthropic event has raised over $55,000 for organization and they couldn’t be more grateful.

“We are only able to provide free cleft surgery for poor children around the world because of donors and supporters like Jimmy and his fans,” said Smile Train Executive Director, Priscilla Ma. “The Pardcast-A-Thon is a wonderful event and we are very thankful to have Jimmy as part of the Smile Train family.”

Confirmed guests at the Pardcast-A-Thon include Sarah Silverman, Andy Richter, Greg Behrendt, Walter Koenig and other surprise comedy stars that will be revealed during the event.

“Never Not Funny” is a currently in its ninth season and requires a paid subscription. Esquire Magazine named Pardo’s podcast “Editor’s Pick” and GQ also designated it “The #1 Relatively Obscure Thing You Need to Be Paying Attention To.” But the recognition doesn’t stop with there; LA Weekly, The AV Club, iTunes and USA Today’s pop culture blog,“Pop Candy,” all claim “Never Not Funny” to be a top comedy podcast. Full audio and video is available at www.pardcast.com and the first 20 minutes of each episode are free of charge on iTunes.

To donate to Smile Train or for more information, visit wwwsmiletrain.org and be sure to participate in the Pardcast-A-Thon on Nov. 25 beginning at 6 p.m. PST and 9 p.m. EST.

Check out some stand-up from Pardo here, courtesy of YouTube:

The 12-hour fundraiser will benefit The Smile Train, an international charity that provides cleft palate surgery to those in need, as well as providing training to doctors in the region. It will feature a round-robin of over twenty all-star comedy guests and stream live at http://pardcast.com/ from the ACME Theatre in Los Angeles led by  Pardo and his co-hosts Matt Belknap and Pat Francis. So far, Pardcast-a-thon has raised over 55,000 dollars for The Smile Train.

Never Not Funny is a paid subscriber podcast. Currently in its ninth season, the show  was made one of iTunes’ “Best in 2006″ and “Best in 2007″ podcasts. It was nominated for a 2006 Weblog Award, a 2007 Podcast Award in the Comedy category and has won a 2008 Rooftop Comedy Award for best Comedy podcast. It was named an Editor’s Pick by Esquire Magazine and “The #1 Relatively Obscure Thing You Need to Be Paying Attention To” by GQ.

In addition to his podcast hosting duties, Pardo also conducts a backstage celebrity interview series called Pardo Patrol as part of Conan O’Brian’s show Conan.

Check out some stand-up from Pardo here, courtesy of YouTube:

Now, folks at Cringe Humor have planned a fundraiser set for November 9th. The event will feature many great stand-up comics including Colin Quinn, Robert Kelly, Eugene Mirman, Rich Vios, Bonnie McFarlane, and Roy Wood Jr. among others. The goal of the fundraiser is to raise money for people who are in recovery fighting their own addiction.

“We are here to carry on his legacy with the Mike DeStefano Foundation, dedicated to helping people who are in recovery. It’s what Mike was set to do with his one man show before he was abruptly taken away from us,” read a press release from Cringe Humor.

The fundraiser will be held at New York City’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center. Admission is $35 for orchestra seating, and $25 for Mezzanine seating. To read more details click here.

“Mike dedicated his existence towards helping others through the gift of stand-up comedy,” wrote Cringe Humor’s Patrick Milligan. Always candid and genuine, Mike always wore his heart on his sleeve and managed to touch so many people’s lives by being incredibly honest & caring towards whomever he crossed paths with.”

You can watch Mike performing stand-up here, courtesy of YouTube:

CBS’ Late Show host David Letterman said on his show last week, ”After all these years, you’re telling me there’s no presence, Jerry lewis has no presence on his own (show)?”

“If this is the way we’re going culturally, then we should go all the way and just tell grandpa we don’t need him for thanksgiving,” sarcastically informed comedian Larry Miller.

Another group of comedians who lobbyed the MDA extremely hard to have Lewis reinstated have decided to create an award in the hosts honor. The Laugh Factory in West Hollywood will sponsor a fundraiser on Labor Day, Sept. 5. for for those comedians who plan to hand out the award. The owner of the club, Jamie Masada, hopes to make the event annual until MDA is finally cured.

“This Jerry Lewis Award will be annual, like the Nobel Peace Prize,” Masada said. “An icon was treated dishonorably by the corporate charitable structure. Maybe it’s time to stress how an individual can make a difference.”

For interested fans who want to participate, the event will stream live from the Laugh Factory at 7 p.m.

Click here to watch a touching video that features Jerry talking about his life, MDA, and hosting the telethon:

Headlining May 27th For One Night Only!

Sacramento wheelchair comedian Michael O’Connell will be headlining “A Night of Accessible Comedy”, an MDA benefit show at Tommy T’s Comedy and Dinner Theater in Rancho Cordova, this Thursday, May 27th at 7:00 PM. The show will feature other local comics to be announced, and 100% of the ticket sales will go directly to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Michael O’Connell, who himself has Muscular Dystrophy, has been making news with his unique brand of disability-themed comedy around Sacramento, having been written up in the Sacramento Bee and interviewed on Capital Public Radio. He reached the final round of the Tommy T’s Talent Search Finals, finishing second overall, and has been playing clubs and rooms all over the city. He’s currently in talks to appear on the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon in Las Vegas this September, and has caught the attention of such celebrities as comedian/singer Dan Finnerty (“The Dan Band”) and actor Adam Baldwin, both of whom have posted his videos on their Twitter pages.

Tickets for the event are $10.00, either at the door or through Tommy T’s web site.

Click here for Reservations and to buy tickets!

Tell them you saw it on SacramentoComedy.Com!