Comedy Club Owner Jumps in the Ocean Every Day Until Clubs Reopen

Standup comedians and comedy clubs go together like catsup and French fries. Not only do the stages at comedy clubs across the country offer you the chance to enjoy a night of laughs, they also offer funny women and men the opportunity to try out new material and refine their sets. 

We would have said that no one was more excited about the prospect of comedy clubs reopening than Sommore, one of the country’s most loved female comedians, but then we heard about Norm Laviolette. 

Making a Splash

Norm is a Massachusetts-based comedy club owner and on May 1, 2020, he made a vow to jump into the ocean every single day until his venues re-open. “I’ve made terrible choices in my life, and this is one of them,” Laviolette said when he marked his 300th dip in the surf. He was only joking, kind of.

Our hats are off to Norm, not only has he kept that vow for more than 300 days straight, but he has also turned his daily dunking into a fundraiser for out-of-work actors and artists through his non-profit No Rest For The Wicked Funny Foundation, Inc. 

“My daughter challenged me to jump in the ocean by our house on May 1st. It was cold but I thought, ‘Hey, why not do this every day, raise awareness for my clubs, Improv Asylum and Laugh Boston, and give me a little routine,’” he says. “I am an idiot”.

Of course, he never dreamed he would still be jumping into the ocean when winter rolled around again. 

Norm has taken the plunge dressed as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Indiana Jones and Superman, among other things requested by people making donations to the cause. 

Norm has raised more than $5,000 so far. As Norm notes, just about everyone has relied on TV, music, movies and books to stay sane during the pandemic. “Art and music and comedy and drama… they’re literally getting us through this nightmare,” he says. “And so many creative people are out of work and will be for the foreseeable future, I just figured I do a little something to help out.”

He doesn’t know yet when his clubs will reopen, but he is optimistic that the water will start to warm up a little bit this month. 

If you would like to contribute to the cause, visit www.improvasylum.com/norest. You can follow Norm’s dunk’s online on Instagram, @beyond_the_norm_and.

And if you want to know when Lori Ann Rambough – aka Sommore, the Queen of Comedy – will make a return to the stage, keep checking in with us here.