Deprived children in Nepal will have big smiles after an international comedy event, Just For Laughs Bermuda, will donate part of the proceeds to them.

Organisers announced this week that part proceeds from the three-night event to be staged at the Fairmont Southampton from January 11 to January 13, will be donated to the Kathmandu Kids Club.

The Bermuda-based Club, formed earlier this year, supports the work of the ISIS Foundation, helping children in serious need in Nepal, a country ravaged by poverty and war.

The ISIS Foundation’s mission is to make a positive difference to the lives of children in the developing world, primarily through health and educational programmes in Uganda and Nepal. The Foundation’s projects in Nepal range from running ten children’s homes for children who have escaped the war in the mountains and are now living in Kathmandu, to providing solar power and pit latrines for families living in villages 10,000 feet up in the Himalayas.

“As our event is an international one, it made sense for us to support a charity that has an international impact,” said Just For Laughs organiser Richard Simon.

“The Kathmandu Kids Club and the ISIS Foundation are doing tremendous work that is really having a positive effect on young lives and we’re delighted to be associated with them.”

Just For Laughs promises to be Bermuda’s comedy event of 2007, featuring five international comics plus Bermuda’s own “Fool”, Nadanja Bailey, all on one stage.

The show, at the Fairmont Southampton’s Mid-Ocean Amphitheatre, will be hosted by American comic Alonzo Bodden, winner of NBC’s ‘Last Comic Standing’, and will also feature Comedy Central star Rocky LaPorte, hot British comedian Lee Mack, Canadian funnyman Jeremy Hotz and comedy juggler Frank Olivier.

“We are thrilled to be supported by such a fun event,” said Leonie Exel, general manager of the ISIS Foundation and president of the Kathmandu Kids Club.

“Although comedy and kids in the developing world don’t seem to correlate, one of the things that visitors to Nepal are stunned by is the capacity of the kids to keep smiling despite in-credible hardship.

“Laughter is universal and the contributions from this event, which the organisers think will be at least $10,000, will put a smile on many young faces in Nepal.”

Tickets for the event are $65, which includes a free drink, and are available now from www.boxoffice.bm, All Wrapped Up in the Washington Mall, or EasyPay on the 4th floor of the British American Building, 133 Front Street.

For more about Just For Laughs, visit www.comedyevent.bm or call 292-7232. To learn more about the Kathmandu Kids Club and the ISIS Foundation, log onto www.kathmandukidsclub.com or visit www.isis.bm