Hamilton comedians hold fundraiser in honour of Shalini Singh

A group of comedians in Hamilton are calling on the healing power of laughter Friday night. They’re holding a comedy performance in honor of Shalini Singh, who tragically went missing in 2024 and was found dead.

The people holding this comedy event say they hope to produce a lot of smiles as they help people come to terms with what happened, and support mental health programs at the same time.

At the Levity Comedy Club & Lounge in downtown Hamilton, the comedians were getting serious today about dealing with tragic loss.

“To be honest she just liked to laugh, to get out there, to enjoy the sun,” Jay Peacock says.

They’re remembering Shalini Singh, a 40-year-old mental health worker who’d signed up for comedy classes and was well liked.

“She was curious, she was funny, she was just really supportive,” says Scott Falconbridge.

WATCH MORE: DNA identifies remains of missing Shalini Singh, partner charged with 2nd-degree murder

Singh was reported missing last December sparking a search that went on for months as her mother and family feared the worst.

“So far they haven’t found her. The last time I spoke to her was December 4th,” Singh’s mother says.

After combing through a landfill site, police said they’d found her partial remains.

Hamilton police then charged her common-law partner with second degree murder.

“The goal is to bring light to a dark situation and raise some money for the Canadian mental health association,” Patrick Coppolino says.

The comedians say Singh’s job of helping people with mental health issues lead to her attraction to comedy as a balance.

“[Comedy] gives you the opportunity to have a platform and speak your mind and not be judged so much. I think that gave her something that she could release all the things she learned through mental health,” Jay Peacock says.

“She really enjoyed it and being a mental health crisis worker I think it was probably a bit of an escape for her, somewhere she can go and laugh and enjoy herself after dealing with the things she would probably be dealing with at her job,” says Patrick Coppolino.

They say there’ll be six comedians performing on Friday raising money to support mental health.

“Quite frankly I think it’s just kind of inconceivable to me what happened and I think the whole community feels that way, and I think doing this show reminds us why we loved her so much. She loved to come out and support comedy,” says Scott Falconbridge.

They hope a little comedy helps people with the tragedy.

“I do think there are healing qualities of comedy and being able to laugh,” Patrick Coppolino says.

Doors open at 7 p.m. at the club on King West downtown and the show starts at 8 p.m. The event is pay what you can.

READ MORE: Hamilton police say landfill search in Shalini Singh investigation has concluded