Even dogs like to laugh, which was evident by the number of them that showed up for Animal Fair’s second Annual Canine Comedy event held at Spa, in New York City, the evening of Wednesday, June 27.The only problem was that none of them were allowed in. Talk about a strict door policy!
At first, only Vanessa Williams’ dog, Sebastian, a male Shitsu, and AF Founder Wendy Diamond’s female Maltese, Lucky, made it past the velvet ropes, and nearly became an item when they got together in one of the trendy club’s dressing rooms.
By the end of the night, other dogs managed to make their way in to party, but not before caring staff from local New York org. Save A Heart, together with staff from Animal Fair, took the velvet ropes and constructed a make-shift outdoor kennel just to keep the doggies in line. Star pets like Pepsi spokes-girl Hallie Kate Eisenberg’s golden retriever, Tara, sniffed and mingled with the several rescued dogs that arrived on their own.
The event featured some of the biggest comedy talent in the business, including Janeane Garofalo, Jeffrey Ross, John Priest, Kathy Griffin of Suddenly Susan, and Colin Quinn of SNL fame, while Survivor’s Kimmi Kappenberg was on hand to argue for the survival of all species and promote animal welfare. Current SNL’ers Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch, as The Stanley Sisters, (with my help holding the mic stand) sang original filthy little ditties like “Dirty Juanita,” the words of which will never grace the pages of this wholesome magazine. Sex and the City’s Mario Cantone, soon to be seen on Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, opened the show with a killer set, while Jeffrey Ross stretched his stage time by using me as Roast material, referring to me as Paul Shaffer’s illegitimate brother Bobo, and 8-year-old, Hallie Kate Eisenberg gave all the performers a run for their money as the evening’s MC.
Along with all the laughs came universal praise for The Friends of Green Chimneys, an organization which joins abused kids with abused animals by taking them to live on a beautiful 160 acre farm in Brewster, NY, where they nurse each other back to health. All proceeds from the event went to this great cause. Thank you, Green Chimneys, for doing what you do, and thank you to sponsors Olympus and Cesar!
So the stars… dog and human alike… came out for Animal Fair’s second annual Canine Comedy. As far as I could tell, there were no owls present, but it was still a real hoot!
– Jeffrey L. Gurian
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