It’s not exactly the blind leading the blind, but counsellor and comedian David Granirer, who himself suffers from depression, has been teaching standup comedy to people with mental-health issues since 2004.

Granirer started Stand Up for Mental Health here, and it has been such a success that the program has been run in over 50 cities throughout Canada, the U.S., and Australia. The budding comics build self-esteem by joking about their conditions, and the audience gains awareness of the various facets of mental illness. And they get some laughs thrown in for good measure. It’s a win-win.

The 2017 Vancouver class holds its graduation show on Sunday (December 3) at Yuk Yuk’s comedy club. Tickets are available at smhsociety.org/.