What better way to warm up on a cold January night than to spend an hour or two laughing?

A pair of Trinity Western graduates are offering the community a chance to do just that 鈥� and to help make people鈥檚 lives a little better in the process.

Chris Nash and Jacqui Janzen 鈥� who together make up BlackJacq Productions 鈥� present Stand Up! For the Little Guy, a comedy show to benefit the Get Warm Project 鈥� at Trinity Western University on Saturday, Jan 10.

Headliner John Cullen 鈥� who, according to his bio is a 鈥渞eal life鈥� teacher, writer, drummer and world-ranked curler, in addition  to being an all-round funny guy  鈥�  will be joined by eight up-and-coming young comedians on stage at the 91原创 university鈥檚 Freedom Hall.

The comedy show will be the first event of its kind mounted by BlackJacq, which formed in 2012. The production company is currently in post-production on a feature length film and entered a play in the 2013 Fringe Festival.

Founders Nash and  Janzen have known one another since university 鈥� they both graduated from TWU in 2009. The pair has always enjoyed working together, said Nash, adding each has a particular set of skills that gels well with the other鈥檚.

鈥淚, myself, am an actor and a writer. Jacqui is an event manager and a web developer,鈥� said Nash.

鈥淚 can dream up grand schemes to put on and she has the sense to ground me.鈥�

Whatever project they embark upon, Nash and Janzen鈥檚  mandate is to be creative while offering support to artists and humanitarians who need financial or promotional backing to help achieve their dreams.

鈥淭he Get Warm Project is just something that鈥檚 close to home,鈥� said Janzen.

The women who started the project, which provides blankets and warm clothes to people living on the streets of Vancover鈥檚 Downtown Eastside, are former high school classmates of Janzen鈥檚, she said.

Each show BlackJacq puts on will benefit a 鈥淟ittle Guy鈥� of some description. The pair recently put out a call in 91原创 and Vancouver for groups that could use some support.

鈥淲e basically did it through social media 鈥� to friends and connections 鈥� because we didn鈥檛 want to be overwhelmed with too many folks we鈥檇 have to let down,鈥� said Nash.

Still, they had a fair number of responses to sort through, before settling on the Get Warm Project.

At the same time, they also went about scouting talent for the show, which will feature several local funny people.

鈥淲e put the call out specifically in 91原创 for this show. We wanted to showcase 91原创 talent,鈥� said Nash.

鈥淭rinity has a good assemblage of comedic characters and I鈥檓 heavily involved in the theatre scene (there).鈥�

Despite the fact the words 鈥渟tand up鈥� appear in the show鈥檚 title, in reality, it will be quite a diverse show, said Nash.

鈥淲e鈥檒l blend any sort of comedy that is just the person and the audience. It may be a song or a great sketch, but our headliner will always be a stand-up comedian.鈥�

And it will always be family-friendly.

By having comedians keep their act clean, it encourages them to be more clever than vulgar, said Nash.

鈥淲hen it comes to being funny, it鈥檚 better to use the parts of your brain that don鈥檛 take the easy laugh, don鈥檛 take the easy way out,鈥� he said.

Nash and Janzen expect to have a full house on the night of the show, with a large number of the university鈥檚 students taking a break from their studies to have a few laughs.

鈥淏ut we鈥檇 like to have a mix from the community as well,鈥� Nash said.

Janzen, meanwhile, encouraged audience members to bring gently used warm clothing items 鈥� socks, toques, scarves, etc.

Anyone who does will be eligible for prize draws. Items have been provided by a range of sponsors, including a Vancouver swimwear company started by another TWU grad, and a yoga clothing retailer.

Tickets for Stand Up! For the Little Guy are $10 each. Half of the proceeds raised from ticket sales will be donated to the Vancouver charity.

Freedom Hall is located at 7600 Glover Rd. Show begins at 8 p.m. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to standuplittleguy.com.