Education/training
Comedian teaches students about money managementFunny moneyCanadian comedian James Cunningham is on a mission. |
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 [ 2007-08-21 ] |
Canadian comedian James Cunningham is on a mission.
He has parlayed a hobby in making people laugh into a career in teaching high school and college students how to handle money.
For eight years, Cunningham -- through his program Funny Money Inc. -- has been crisscrossing North America addressing what he perceives as a gap in financial education.
"Funny Money addresses what is a growing problem -- young people leaving school unprepared for the day-to-day realities of paying the rent, properly using a credit card or budgeting for the basic necessities," he says. "My mission is to take all of the confusion out of the complex world of finances and empower today's youth with the knowledge they need to make good financial choices."
Cunningham stumbled onto the idea years ago. As a University of Toronto student, he picked up some cash as a standup comic.
"I would do these shows about being a starving student and, afterwards, would be sitting with people and outlining for them on a napkin how they can get themselves out of debt quickly," he says.
"One day it just dawned on me that I should put the two ideas together and that's how Funny Money Inc. started."
It wasn't easy. For the first six years Cunningham made little money. However, after getting a few awards and making a name for himself on the college circuit, more bookings came his way.
"I still remember some of my first shows in places like Moose Jaw, Sudbury and at Fanshawe in London," he says.
He expanded his program to reach out to high school students and the awards allowed him to obtain a visa to work in the U.S., where he's headed this week for a three-month tour.
"You think Canadian students have it bad, you should see the Americans," he says. "Here when you're done school you might have a $25,000 debt, over there they're talking about $60,000 for year one. I mean, I met a guy who was $98,000 in debt, had a degree in theology and just had no clue what to do about it."
Cunningham now gets booked for up to 300 shows a year and expects soon to hire more staff to help with the program. He's also using Facebook, YouTube and a website to help facilitate and drive his program forward.
In addition to American shows, he's booked for stops soon across Canada in such places as Calgary, Toronto and London. For more information, go to www.james-cunningham.com.
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