Dr. Maurice Shaw is a UIS alum who went on to become a pharmacist. His experience of working in a retail pharmacy, which includes unruly customers and out-of-touch corporate higher-ups, inspires the content he creates for TikTok and Instagram under his username. His audience is usually those who work in a similar field, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist (or a pharmacy technician) to be able to get the joke.
Shaw is part of the comedy lineup featured during the “Comedy for a Cause” show happening on campus at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Also featured on the show is Tim Laffey, a comedian who was raised just west of the Mississippi River and part of the Belly Laffs Comedy team which has produced several comedy shows around Central Illinois. Laffey will serve as the host of the show, which will take place in the UIS Studio Theatre.
Also joining the lineup are Kathy Brennan (Jukebox Comedy Club Comedy Contest in 2021 finalist), and Jeff Tolbert (Yuk-Off Comedy). Josh, who hosts the popular comedy show, The First Laugh (Walter Freeman Productions) will bring his unique style of delivering perfect punchlines dry as a bone to the stage that evening.
Al Nimpson, who in July of 2022 filmed Springfield’s first comedy special at the Hoogland Center of The Arts, will also help round out the hilarious lineup. The show will be headlined by Larry Smith, host of the NPR show “Convince Me.” Proceeds from the show will go to support the Boys and Girls Club of Springfield, which provided Doctor Shaw with cash assistance of $1,000 each year he attended UIS. The show, appropriately named Comedy for a Cause, will serve as a way to raise money to give back to the community that helped him during his time at UIS.
With such a diverse lineup of comedians, this is sure to be something any audience member with a pulse will enjoy. But should an audience member find themselves in a comedic flatline, the Doctor of Comedy and the comedy Dream Team that makes up this lineup will keep the audience alive.
Tickets can be purchased for the show at UISpac.com or by calling (217) 206-6160.
