Having recently moved to Bloomington, Logan Hendry wanted to get involved with the community and raise money for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
“I’m 20 years old, I’m a comedian, so really that just means I work in a restaurant,” he said. “I don’t really have a lot of money, so I couldn’t give the kind of money I wanted to give to Bernie.”
As a result, Hendry organized and will be the host of Friday’s event at the Void, “Laugh ‘Til It Berns: A Laugh-Filled Fundraiser.” All proceeds will go directly toward the Sanders campaign.
The fundraiser features both local and regional comedians, including Chris Cements, Ray Hensley, Trent Mabry, Kurt Messick, Tennah McDonald and Elliott Hilton.
Opening and closing the event will be musical guests Wintermute and UpFolk.
Hendry booked the fundraiser at the Void through Wintermute’s A.T. Bossenger, who volunteers regularly at the venue and is an avid Sanders supporter.
Hendry was never interested in politics growing up, he said. However, the local comedian said he was immediately interested in the Vermont senator’s platform once Sanders’ campaign started gaining attention.
“When, for the first time in your life, you see somebody stand up and say that instead of perpetuating warfare we could put our kids through college, common sense says you’ve got to follow,” he said.
Guest speakers include IU Students for Bernie Sanders representative Stanley Njuguna and Indiana Democratic Convention Delegate Greg Phillips.
The majority of organizing and networking for the event occurred on Facebook, Hendry said.
Everyone performing at the event is a supporter of Sanders, he said.
“Everybody that wanted to do it was very enthusiastic about it, which I think is very indicative of Bernie supporters,” he said. “We have this tenacity where we are just so ready to do anything we can.”
Following the fundraiser, Hendry said he is hoping to set up a recurring comedy open mic night at the Void.
There aren’t many local venues for comedians to perform, he said.
“It can take upwards of four months to get an open mic slot at the Comedy Attic, and it can take weeks to get on at Bear’s,” he said. “For as many comedians as there are here, they definitely deserve another space.”
Representatives from the Sanders campaign will be present to accept donations at tonight’s event.
In his experience, Hendry said comedy fundraisers are always successful.
“People like to laugh, people like to give, and generally those things tend to go pretty well together,” he said.
Regardless of turnout, Hendry said he is happy to be active in the community during this election season.
“No matter what the turnout, no matter how much money we raise, you don’t see the supporters of other candidates doing things like this,” he said. “I think my description of this show is sort of Bernie’s description of politics: Sometimes the message has to mean more than the money.”
