Israel Comedy Night Fundraiser Shifted to the Gordon Center

A night of standup comedy to benefit Israel — originally scheduled to be held at a local comedy club but cancelled by the ownership — will now be presented at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills.

The original show, featuring Jewish standup comic Rich Vos, was intended to be a benefit for Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. It was scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 8, at Magooby’s Joke House, but was cancelled last week by the Timonium entertainment venue.

“Due to safety and other concerns, we regret we will not be able to offer the ‘Stand Up for Israel’ comedy show,” Magooby’s ownership wrote in a post to ticketholders. “A full refund will be issued and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

The show at the Gordon Center, at 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, will now be held on the same date, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m., featuring comedians Judy Gold, Aaron Berg and Olga Namer. It is a benefit for FIDF.

Responding to an inquiry from Jmore last week, Andrew Unger, president and founder of Magooby’s, wrote, “When asked by the event organizers to host their event, which I understood to be a memorial benefit for victims of the Hamas terror attacks, we agreed to be one of 27 venues hosting it nationwide. Unfortunately, we received some threatening phone calls and major backlash in general from some members of the local community.”

Unger said some of the benefit’s critics were concerned about the recipients of the show’s proceeds. “Some pointed out that our flyer said the FIDF while other venues’ flyers said Israeli charities or Israeli people,” wrote Unger. “When we attempted to inquire from the organizer as to exactly where donations would go, we didn’t receive a solid answer and also discovered that comedian Rich Vos dropped out of the show. Rich has been to our club many times over the years and has a following that would’ve helped drive ticket sales. I also found out that many venues around the country had cancelled the event.”

Unger said only 32 tickets had been sold to the Feb. 8 show so far.

“Due to low ticket sales, Rich Vos pulling out of the show, ambiguity regarding where exactly the proceeds would go and other notable venues choosing to cancel, it just made the most sense to drop from our calendar an event that was receiving a lot of push back and seemed disorganized,” Unger wrote. “The threats (which were not direct threats of violence but rather boycotts and protests) and anger from the community wasn’t directed specifically towards Jewish people. As a Jewish man this would be particularly troubling. … I’m proud of my Judaism and have always supported Jewish causes, which I will continue to do, but any fundraising groups who want us to attach the Magooby’s name and reputation to its event needs to be very transparent as to where the proceeds are going, and the organizers must promote the event in a way that helps ensure success, both for the organization receiving the funds and the club. Generally speaking, I like to see victims in need benefiting from these types of events.”

For information about “Stand Up for Israel” show at the Gordon Center, click here.