LAKEVIEW — The Laugh Factory hopes laughter will soothe the pain of Hurricane Sandy victims — and raise some money for the displaced, too.
The Laugh Factory, 3175 N. Broadway St., is hosting a show on Dec. 30 where proceeds will be donated to a local effort to help relocate Hurricane Sandy victims from New Jersey to Chicago's suburbs.
Chicago comedian Sara Benincasa, author of Agorafabulous, and band Dyan McDonald and the Avians have donated their time to the cause, said Maggie Sargent, director of operations at the Laugh Factory.
About 50 of those displaced by the hurricane who now hope to move to the Chicago area will be in attendance as well as others looking for a few giggles.
"We want to show them that Chicago loves them and that we’re here with the healing power of laughter," Sargent said.
Mobile app developers Junto3 Nicholas Dahlheim and Christoper Irizarry-Hoeksvma are leading the effort to relocate people from the New Jersey area who have been displaced by the superstorm. They got the idea after Irizarry-Hoeksvma's own Atlantic City home flooded after the storm.
Much of Junto3's hard drives were destroyed, and the two had to start from square one with some of their apps. Irizarry-Hoeksvma was forced to move back home to Chicago.
"We figured with a monkey wrench thrown in everything, we might as well help others if we’re going to help ourselves," Dahlheim said.
The two partnered with suburban South Holland to help place victims in vacant or foreclosed homes, starting with 50 people. Dalheim, originally from west suburban Aurora, and Irizarry-Hoeksvma, originally from Riverdale on the city's South Side, knew comedian Tom Dreeson, who connected them to Sargent.
"Our philosophy is that laughter is the medicine," she said.
The show, titled "The World Didn't End" will start at 8 p.m. Dec. 30. General admission tickets may be purchased on the Laugh Factory's website for $25.
