The first event ever hosted at the brand new Stone City Event Center in Tenino will be a comedy show fundraiser supporting the Rainier and Tenino high school boys basketball teams Friday, Jan. 24.
Comedians Austin Trafelet, Bo Johnson and Patrick DeGuire will headline the third annual comedy show fundraiser, which begins at 8 p.m. They will also perform three shows in downtown Chehalis on Saturday, Jan. 25, at the Vintage Grand Room in the Hotel Washington building, and those shows will benefit Toledo, Adna and WF West high school boys basketball teams.
Grady Fallon, Toledo’s head boys basketball coach and athletic director, has been organizing the event since its inception. He said the fundraiser not only supports local high schools and athletics but also supports Trafelet, a former Toledo basketball player, in his comedy endeavors as he now lives in San Diego.
“He was telling me about how hard it is down there where you’ve got to do the groundwork. It just sounds like a grind,” Fallon said of Trafelet. “He’s getting on an open mic night where there’s a line of people waiting to go, and they get three or four minutes on stage. If people laugh at your joke, they leave it alone. If they don’t, you go to the back of the line and you tweak it a little bit, and then you get back in line and do another three minutes.”
Fallon said each comedian gets 25 to 30 minutes per set in each show during the fundraiser and allows them to hone their skills and climb the comedy ladder. The first show was held in Chehalis two years ago, and last year’s expanded to both Chehalis and Longview.
“It’s a fun fundraiser. It’s not like cookie dough or pepperoni sticks or the discount cards that you buy and never use. It’s a night out that people are glad to pay for,” he said. “Plus, [Trafelet] gets stage time, he makes connections, and all the basketball teams make a little money.”
The fundraiser will help support some of the small details for the basketball teams, including summer basketball camps, traveling, meals and gear.
“This money is a lot of the extra stuff. You might get a fancy meal if you make it to state instead of just your regular lunch, or you might get a sweatshirt and a T-shirt for your team instead of just a T-shirt,” Fallon said. “All of that little extra stuff helps give them a good experience.”
Tickets for the show at the Stone City Events Center, 16404 Old Highway 99 SE in Tenino, cost $25 per seat, and the doors open at 7:30 p.m. for attendees aged 21 and older. To purchase a ticket, contact Ben Sheaffer at sheaffer.ben@rainier.wednet.edu.