The Benefit Show by Jo Anna

Two and a half hours of solid entertainment!!! It was a show for the ages, a show for the books, a show to end all...strike that...a show to BEGIN all shows. It rocked the socks off of the audience. Made them afraid to get up and pee. Better than I could've hoped for. Special thanks to The Sets for donating the room, and to Chris and Jim McClennan of Trash City who worked the door, hired the sound and security set the tables and dressed them with table cloths and candles, printed the flyers...I am so grateful to be friends with these people! We even performed on the BIG stage that the bands use and not the little comedy stage off to the side. It made it much easier. We even had a green room, a sweltering hot green room, but a place to change that was not the bathroom, nonetheless.

At 7:05 one of the comedians canceled due to illness, and Chris Bennett showed up with Josh Skalniak, so instead of one opening comic, I got two! Chris had contacted me earlier via the MySpace and I already told him he could get some time, but Josh was a bonus. The show was really strong and everyone got mad laughs. Virtual Show:

Male Pattern Radness opened with there dulcet tones like : "88 Miles per Hour", "Dog Food Sandwiches" and "4:19 is the longest Minute".

The Cheeky Monkeys (Amy Jean Page and Myself) ft. Eddie Oliver and Amy Donahue performed the sketch "Who's Down with Easy Bake" which handled the difficult talk every parent has with their teen about boys and girls and "baking" with someone else.

Stand Up Set 1: Josh Skalniak, Robert Fata, The Fabulous Amy Donahue

The Cheeky Monkeys dance to "My Little Chicken" by Adam Sandler

Stand Up Set 2: Tim Bateman, Chris Bennett

The Cheeky Monkeys dance to "The Pussy Song" by Connie Vannett

Stand Up Set 3: Eddie Oliver, Shane Hicks, Jon Jesmer

This is a Who's Who of Phoenix comedy, every one of these guys has been around town for years and have honed their craft and moved on to do other cities, these are the good ones, folks, it was a steal at $10. You can say you "saw them when..." Thanks to ComedySchools.com for bringing us together as performers and friends. I met most of these guys because of Tony's classes and they have stayed my homies even after school's out. The show was like a reunion, even Tony showed up to support the cause and his alumni. Very cool.

A very cool show! Hosted by the capable and loveable Amy Stockinger this was a show I am proud to have been a part of!

Jo Anna

Jo Anna Post-I'm not dead

Just read a bunch of posts by Amy and thought it would be a good time to jump back in and say "hello." Hello! I am up and a bout, haven't done a lick of true exercise in weeks, doctor's orders, but I have been marching in front of the TV set here and there for 15-30 minutes at a time. Soon, soon.

I will be rehearsing Sunday to prepare for the big show and am so excited about that! I can't believe it will be here on Friday next already! I am so blessed to have such great comics as my friends. Thanks to all and to Trash city for your support.

I am going to buy new running shoes soon, or rather, walking shoes. We just watched a show on tennis shoes last night and all the technology that goes into them is meant to mimic the natural movement of a bare foot. I did not know that, but now I do, and you do to. I also found that a good shoe does NOT necessarily prevent injuries because their high level of comfort often causes the wearer to push to far and get injured MORE. Crazy. So I will get a good pair, but I will be aware of my exertion. Promise.

Jo Anna

Special Thanks

This is about thanking some really great people who are being amazingly supportive. :)

1st - thanks to the person who made an anonymous donation to my site - I don't know who you are, but I really appreciate the support!

Special Thanks:

To Chris McLennan of Trash City Entertainment (www.trashcityentertainment.com) for promoting our event, getting us the venue, printing postcards, doing a Press Release and the flier - and just being all around super supportive! We truly could not do this upcoming event without her. Check out her website for info on other Trash City events, they've got some really cool ones!

Thanks to The Sets in Tempe, where we're having our event and we don't have to pay a dime for the venue!

Thanks to all the comedians who are performing - for free! They are all awesome so come out and see them at our show, 8/15!

And special thanks to Ann Cabano (ann@theenergymover.com), a massage therapist and friend who has said she would donate a gift certificate for a free massage. She's been really wonderful also, helping us get the word out about our events. Contact her for massage - she's not only amazing but she's got an office in Mesa or she'll come to your home!

And thank you to Jo Anna, for agreeing to do this crazy thing with me and for keeping me motiviated. And thanks to myself, on behalf of Jo Anna, for roping her into this cool, wonderful experience. ;)
-A

Amy - Updates

Ok - it's update time! Jo Anna is out of the hospital (has been for a while now) and doing great. She and I are filling out our paperwork this week for recommittment. For those of you who don't know what that is, it means we're promising to meet our fundraising goals of $2,940 each, if we don't, we're agreeing to pay the difference. Basically, we're putting our money where our mouths are. We have until October 3rd to meet our goals or we'll be charged the difference on a credit card. We will have until November 19th to continue to fundraise and reach our goals, and if we do we can get a refund on the charged amounts. So that's good. Still, the refund is a hassle so we're really working hard to reach our goals by 10/3.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us thus far. And if you haven't, it's not too late! You may have to copy/paste this, but here are our webpage links:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf08/jlarson
http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/nikesf08/astockinger

Donate to Jo Anna, she's got farther to go than I do...

We're doing a yard sale this weekend to fundraise, and our comedy event is on August 15th! We're super excited about that! We think we'll do really, really well that night. I'm emcee-ing and Jo Anna is performing, so it's going to be super cool! If you haven't received that flier email one of us and we'll send it to you. Bring friends! Only $10 to get in! :)

I did 5 miles this last weekend. Next weekend is 6 and before you know it, it'll be 10! That's the most we'll do in practice, then 13.1 at the marathon itself. Yikes! It's ok because I know we can do it. We have to. It's all about finding a cure, and if I have to walk 13.1 miles to raise money then so be it. I'm happy to do it.

More soon! Much love to everyone!
-A