Organizers in their 10th year of planning
this fun fundraiser have had a few giggles
of their own along the way
Heidi Sargeant (left) and Becky Walsh again serve
as co-chairs of the Laugh with the Library benefit
for the Delray Beach Public Library. It’s scheduled for Feb. 5.
Photos by Tim Stepien/Illustration by Scott Simmons/The Coastal Star
By Emily J. Minor
Have you heard the one about the comedian who went missing five minutes before he was supposed to take the stage?
He was standing at the back of the room, hiding in plain sight.
“We were running around like maniacs trying to find him,” says Bonnie Stelzer, director of community relations at the Delray Beach Public Library.
“It was bad,” says Becky Walsh, who has co-chaired the Delray Beach Public Library’s Laugh with the Library event for the last 10 years.
“I think one of the gals even went in the men’s room trying to find him,” Stelzer remembers.
And then Stelzer looked over, and there he was, that adorably zany Sebastian Maniscalco, standing next to her along the rear wall.
“It’s almost like he was in a trance,” Stelzer said. “These guys are really in the zone before they take the stage.”
If you can find ’em.
Ba-dum-bum.
Heidi Sargeant (left) and Becky Walsh stand before a mural at the Delray Beach Public Library.
The two are co-chairing the Laugh with the Library benefit.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Or how about the year — Was it 2013? Yes, 2013! — when comedian Tom Cotter, known for breaking through the year before as runner-up on America’s Got Talent — was tight as a drum from all the travel. “He wanted to get a massage,” says Heidi Sargeant, the event’s other co-chair.
Oh, he got his massage all right.
“He had some sort of cupping procedure and that night, he lifted his shirt and showed us,” Walsh says.
Turns out the cupping technique — where the masseuse puts powerful suction cups on the body to increase blood flow and re-energize the muscles — does more than relax. It can litter the skin with creepy red circles.
Talk about a gig leaving a real mark on you.
Ba-dum, ching.
Of course, this business of raising money for a good cause is serious stuff, to be sure — especially this time of year, and in these parts.
Who doesn’t love a gala with a 334-something ZIP code?
But Walsh and Sargeant, who 10 years ago put together the first Laugh with the Library fundraiser, say their annual event is beloved because it’s a relaxed night of belly laughs. (Yes, someone usually spits out beer at a punch line.) There are no sequined gowns or bow ties.
“And the food is always really, really good,” Sargeant says.
On Feb. 5, the women are set to pull off “Chapter 10” of this fundraiser that benefits children’s and teens programs and services at the Delray Beach Public Library. (Chapter 10. Books. Library fundraiser. Get it?)
Each year they’ve brought in a different comedian, served up dinner and drinks — one year, the signature cocktail was called “The Luscious Librarian” — and had a great time.
“Ours is a pretty simple affair, and that’s why everybody loves it,” Walsh says.
Since Laugh with the Library started a decade ago, the event has helped to raise nearly $1 million. “It’s not that stressful anymore (to plan),” says Walsh. (Except for the year they changed the invitation format from a horizontal envelope to a vertical one, and all the invites started bouncing back, “delivered” to the return address, which was the library.)
But the beauty of this event, say organizers, is its simplicity. Entertained by comedians and other oddballs of entertainment, library supporters can relax, wear something casual, even drink a Budweiser.
Just remember, there’s always something peculiar (i.e. funny, i.e. worrisome) going on behind the scenes.
Like the year Dennis Regan showed up really sick with the flu. The planning committee went bonkers with worry. “We were like, how is he going to be able to perform?” Walsh remembers. “He didn’t even want to talk to anyone. He looked terrible.”
And then, there he went, right on cue. “When he got out there, he was funny and as chipper as can be,” Stelzer said.
That also might have been the year they filmed library director Alan Kornblau getting a pie in the face. (“It was mostly whipped cream,” Stelzer notes.) The hilarious ladies on the Laugh committee thought the gag might add a little zing to that year’s otherwise dry promotional video. So as Kornblau was giving a tour of the library, out came the pie.
“We actually had to do it twice, because the first time it didn’t hit him squarely in the face,” Stelzer recalls.
“We all get a tremendous kick out of it.”
Badda bing. Badda bang.
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