Friends and fans gather to help injured Tupelo employee
Just before dawn on April 8, Mark Shamaly was struck by a hit-and-run driver on the Everett Turnpike in Merrimack. He sustained multiple injuries, including head trauma, a fractured pelvis and ribs, and chest cavity damage. He’d stopped to help a motorist who’d been in an accident, something that surprised no one who knew Shamaly.
The director of security at Tupelo Music Hall in Derry, Shamaly is a familiar friendly figure to patrons of the venue. Owner Scott Hayward and his crew, along with Mike Smith, who books comedy there, quickly came up with a plan to help — a benefit show to raise enough money for him to have at least six months without worrying about his bills.
“It’s one of those situations where you could see how an employee has affected everybody around them,” Hayward said by phone on April 20. He noted that most of the $50 tickets have been sold, and a GoFundMe page launched by Shamaly’s wife had raised nearly $30,000. “Everybody was just really struck by this, so there’s been a huge wave of support.”
Smith was hosting a Tupelo show when he got the news, and immediately wanted to do something for him.
“Mark is such a great guy,” he said. “He loves the comedy shows and loves the comedians.”
The comics love him as well; Hayward said Smith placed eight quick phone calls and received affirmative responses from everyone.
The Laugh-A-Palooza benefit will be held on Sunday, May 1. Comics performing include Francis Birch, Jason Merrill, Matt Barry, Kyle Crawford, Kennedy Richard, Joe Yannetty, Chris Pennie and Steve Bjork.
“You’ll never see this many comedians on one show,” Hayward wrote, adding that a few special guests may also stop by.
Many of the comics got on board out of fondness for the Tupelo community, even if they weren’t close with Shamaly. Steven Bjork has worked there since its days in Londonderry.
“I jumped at the chance,” he said by phone. “Though I didn’t necessarily know all the circumstances, I knew somebody at the Tupelo needed some help.”
Matt Barry was effusive in his praise.
“Tupelo is one of my favorite places to perform, [and] in comedy you don’t always know what you’re walking into,” he said in a text exchange. “To be on a stage that’s so high-tech, with all the lights and the curtains, is a real trip. It makes me feel like Axl Rose (in a good way).”
The Manchester comic was also grateful to Tupelo for being one of the first venues in the country to do outdoor shows when the pandemic hit.
“They were looking out for performers in a time when not a lot of places were … when a venue that’s taken such good care of me over the years asked for a favor, ‘Yes’ was the obvious answer,” Barry wrote.
Birch said via text, “It feels good to make people laugh supporting an amazing cause. Tupelo and Mark have always been good to me, set me up for success. This feels like an appropriate way to do my part.”
Photographer Jerry LoFaro said of Shamaly in a post on the Tupelo Music Hall Community Facebook page, “I know when I walk in the door he’ll greet me with a big hug and a smile. We always convene and pal around a few times throughout a show, and he’s usually my photographer when I get the chance to pose with a visiting artist. It’s no surprise that he would put himself in harm’s way to help someone in need, but what a cruel price to pay.”
The Laugh-A-Palooza event will be livestreamed to Shamaly in his hospital room. For those unable to attend, or if tickets sell out, donations can be made via a special $25 ticket link on the Tupelo Music Hall page.
Laugh-A-Palooza – A Benefit for Mark Shamaly
When: Sunday, May 1, 6 p.m.
Where: Tupelo Music Hall, 10 A St., Derry
Tickets: $50 at tuplelohall.com
Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/pefyfw-hit-and-run-please-help.
Featured photo: Mark Shamaly. Courtesy photo.