Posted 6-27-02

Media Access Office Hosts Evening of Laughter and Scholarship Possibilities

North Hollywood's Media Access Office, whose goal is to further inform and generate support for actors and other entertainers who have disabilities, is hosting the 2002 Norman G. Brooks Stand-Up Comedy Scholarship Competition. The evening of fun and laughter, to be held on Thursday, June 27, will be at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, and will feature many experienced and beginning stand-up (or sit-down) comics competing for $1,500.

The event will also include special guest host Fred Burns, who received the 17th Annual Media Access Awards Comedy Scholarship and also was a grand-prize winner on America's Funniest People. He uses a personal approach about living with Spina Bifida as a basis for many of his routines.

Also attending the event will be Kathy Buckley, known as "America's First Hearing Impaired Comedienne," as well as Geri Jewell, best known as Cousin Geri on the 80's sitcom "Facts of Life." Buckley's television special, "No Labels, No Limits," is a candidate for a 2002 Emmy Nomination, and she is also a four-time American Comedy Award Nominee as Best Stand-Up Female Comedienne. Jewell, also well known as a seasoned comic, was the first person with a visible disability to become a regular performer on a national television series.

Judges will include members of the Media Access Awards Honorary Committee in addition to other entertainment and comedy industry entertainers. The Media Access Committee works to eliminate societal misconceptions about the experiences and capabilities of people with disabilities, and to further increase awareness about people with disabilities. The organization also acts as a casting liaison so that Americans with disabilities may receive a fair chance in showing their talents in the entertainment industry.