BEVERLY — Paul Nardizzi, a comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central and NBC's "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," is doing a stand-up show for Hannah Elementary School.
The PTO's comedy night also features a raffle and silent auction with many high-end items, including a baseball bat autographed by Ken Griffey Jr., numerous vacation packages around New England, passes to Six Flags and Story Land, tickets to the Berklee Performance Center and Red Sox games, fly-fishing lessons, kayak rentals, and more.
During the day, the elementary students will laugh it up at an assembly where they'll get to tell jokes on stage. It's a reward for completing the Vote for Reading program, in which classes had to read 2,008 minutes a week, said Hannah Principal Susan Snyder.
But the fun starts for adults in the evening.
With a simple e-mail, PTO organizer Brian Lewandowski booked Nardizzi to headline, along with Nardizzi's friend Jim Cahillane, described as "the best unknown comedian in the country," according to his bio.
"I always knew comedians were people you could just write to, so I did," Lewandowski said. Nardizzi was the first to respond.
He used the same philosophy to ask for auction donations from businesses across the region.
"I wrote a letter that really just said it like it is," he said. He explained the growing need for PTOs to pay for necessities like books and computers in light of rising costs and inadequate school funding, kindly reminded recipients about the word-of-mouth advertising benefits — and waited as the donations came pouring in.
"You look at the Beverly schools budget, and we're $2.7 million in the hole," he said. "I figured why not go as big as possible."
Last year's auction raised $7,000, and he estimates this second one, with about four times the items, will dwarf that amount.
The value of all the donations is about $17,500, and opening bids are set for between 10 percent and 15 percent of that value.
For a list of all auction items, go to the Hannah Web site through www.beverlyschools.org.
If you go
r What: Comedy Night to benefit Hannah School
r Where: Vittori Rocci Post, 143 Brimbal Ave.
r When: Friday, April 4.
r Time: Silent auction, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Comedy show at 8:30 p.m.
r Cost: $20 per person, includes show, auction and a buffet dinner from Café Salerno.
r Tickets: Purchase in advance in school office. No tickets at the door if event sells out in advance.
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