To Help A Victim Of The Aurora, Co. Massacre
The Laughing Devil Comedy Club in Long Island City put its usual schedule of standup comedy aside on Monday, July 30 in favor of a fund-raiser for a budding comic hurt in the Aurora, Co. movie theater shooting.
A handful of comedians, including Laughing Devil owner Steve Hofstetter and manager Scott Sharp, told stories around the Vernon Boulevard club’s bar, coming together to help raise $1,000 for Caleb Medley, who is currently in a coma following the July 20 shooting that left 12 dead and 58 injured.
Hofstetter described it as an event “Caleb probably would really enjoy coming to.”
Medley grew up in Florence, Colo., about a two hour drive south of Aurora, a suburb of Denver. After graduating from high school, Medley married his high school sweetheart, Katie, and moved to Aurora so he could pursue his dream of standup comedy while she could pursue her passion for veterinary medicine.
Caleb and Katie (who was due to deliver their child on Sunday, July 22) were in the audience taking in a showing of The Dark Knight Rises when a gunman opened fire. Katie was unharmed, while Caleb was shot in the face. He was put into a medically induced coma, and doctors have removed his right eye and brain tissue in three separate surgeries at University of Colorado-Denver Hospital.
On Tuesday, July 24, their son, Hugo, was born healthy.
Sharp, a Colorado native, knew Medley from the Denver comedy scene, which he called “probably the most close-knit group of comics I’ve ever seen.”
“We ran into each other when we both did comedy. It’s kind of any field that you work in. If you work there long enough, you kind of just meet everyone,” he said. “Really nice kid.”
When he got word of Medley’s condition-and that his medical expenses may be in excess of $2 million- a fund-raiser quickly came together. All proceeds from ticket sales and 50 percent of all drink sales went to help the Medleys with their hospital bills.
A July 26 Facebook post on a page entitled “Support Caleb” dedicated to his progress noted that Caleb’s condition is improving.
However, according to news reports, Medley did not have insurance, and his expenses could run as high as $2 million.
“Everybody describes Caleb as ‘he would do this for us,'” Hofstetter noted. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t do this for him.”
To donate, visit www.supportcaleb.com.
