dwb

Fred Armisen, Ted Leo, Jim Gaffigan, David Cross, Hannibal Buress & more playing Doctors w/o Borders benefit in NYC

by Klaus Kinski

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I heard a funny ebola joke. But you probably won’t get it.

While ebola mania has Americans rapt with fear, the reality is that the chances of it becoming a real, widespread epidemic here is basically nil. As far as viruses go, ebola is pretty terrifying and I can see why people would be freaking out and why the news media would use it as fodder to scare the shit out of us. But it’s not an airborne virus like the flu; you have to physically come in contact with it. And according to Dr. Jon LaPook over at CBS, “Every single Ebola outbreak in Africa over the past 40 years has been brought under control with standard infectious disease measures — basically, isolating infected patients and tracking down their contacts.” So once a case is identified, measures are taken to ensure it gets isolated. At least, that’s what we hope will happen.

The real urgency simply isn’t here on American soil; it’s in Africa where they do not have the infrastructure to adequately deal with viral epidemics like this. There, it is much harder to contain and much easier to spread. Right now, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) is on the front lines of dealing with the crisis in Africa. 80% of their funding comes from private donors, and what better way to contribute than with an awesome benefit show with awesome talent at an awesome venue? On Wednesday November 19 Irving Plaza will host and MSF/DWB International Fundraiser to help fight Ebola in West Africa. The event will be hosted by Klaus favorites Greg Barris and Jena Friedman and will feature appearances from Fred Armisen, Jim Gaffigan, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Hannibal Buress, and Ted Leo. Many, many more acts will be added to the bill. Onsale date/time are still TBD as well but should be available via Livenation soon, but mark your calendars and keep your eyes on BV for updates.

Meanwhile, tickets are still available for a show benefiting another good cause. Seth Herzog (Fallon, ‘Sweet,’ Comedy Central, NatGeo), Christian Finnegan (Comedy Central, VH1, Conan), Damien Lemon (Half Hour, Guy Code), Dan Soder (Conan, Guy Code, O&A) and Michelle Wolf (Late Night w/ Seth Meyers), and The Amigos Band will convene at the Bell House on Thursday (10/23) to raise money for ‘Stand Up for Rockaway,’ the organization still helping the Rockaways rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. Use code “ROCKAWAY” when buying tickets to get $10 off.

You can also catch Greg Barris during CMJ at Union Hall on Friday (10/24) for a special edition of his “Hearts of Darkness” show, featuring Shonali Bhowmik, Corn Mo, Larry Murphy, The Forgiveness, and “surprise guests!” Tickets are on sale and you can use your CMJ badge if you have one.