Comedian Brett Leake to speak at Woodrow Wilson Rehab Center

The WWRC Foundation will host nationally recognized comedian and motivational speaker Brett Leake for a benefit performance on Saturday, March 23, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center Auditorium in Fishersville, VA. The show will open with the Virginia School for the Deaf & Blind bluegrass band and will be followed by a reception.

Leake stands apart, or at least sits apart, from his peers. In his youth, this Virginia native was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. But he pushed the disability aside and has become a successful comic, gaining national recognition　on Entertainment Tonight, the American Comedy Awards, and five appearances on The Tonight Show.

In 1991 Leake made television history　when he became the first comedian with a physical disability to appear on　The Tonight Show. Host Jay Leno said, “He broke up the whole room. People realized here’s a man with a disability and he’s not gonna’ let it bother him.”

Leake performed as a standup comic for fourteen years until he began working as what he calls “a sit-down standup comic.” In 1998, he also became a motivational speaker, adding personal stories to his standup act and what have been called “philosophic lecturettes” that advocate using humor as a problem-solving device and as a means to get more out of life.

Leake’s 60 minute comedy special,　Laughing Matters with Brett Leake, began playing on Public Broadcasting Stations around the country in 2003.

In 2008, Leake received the National Humor Treasure Award, presented annually at the International Humor Conference to honor a person who has made a different in the world through the use of humor. Other recipients include Gilda Radner, Victor Borge, Sid Caesar, The Smothers Brothers, Steve Allen, Bob Newhart and Jay Leno. Jerry Seinfeld says, “He’s funny.”

Tickets for this clean comedy show are $15 and may be purchased online at www.wwrcf.org, by calling 540-332-7452 or at Union First Market Bank in Martin’s Food Markets. The evening is sponsored by STAR 94 FM and M.I.T.S. of Virginia with proceeds benefitting the WWRC Foundation’s mission to enhance vocational training at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, leading to independence and employment for Virginians with disabilities. WWRC is a residential campus in Fishersville that serves clients from across the state. located.