The Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award
The Tim Sims Encouragement Fund recognizes and supports promising comedic performers in the early stages of their careers.
The Tim Sims Encouragement Fund was founded by Lindsay Leese and established in 1995 in the spirit and memory of Tim Sims, a well-known comedic performer, writer, director, and charity fund-raiser from Toronto. The Toronto comedy community, Andrew Alexander and The Second City, friends of Tim and the annual fundraising showcases associated with the TSEF have raised the capital for the Fund. The interest generated by the capital makes up the annual cash award.
From 1996-2014, the Fund awarded prize money totaling $65,000 to young comedians in the early stages of their careers. The award was presented at the annual Cream of Comedy award show at Second City, which featured comedy performances by five outstanding jury-selected Tim Sims Award Nominees. The award was one of recognition and not designated for any purpose other than the recipient’s encouragement.
Beginning in 2015, the $2,500 award is given annually to a graduate of the Comedy Writing and Performance program at the Humber College, School of Creative and Performing Arts and until 2019, to a Conservatory Program Graduate at the Second City Training Program..
2023 Recipient
Humber College’s Comedy: Writing and Performance Program
Sarah Boston
Sarah Boston has had a circuitous route to the world of comedy. She is a veterinary cancer surgeon and also a cancer survivor herself. Her bestselling memoir, Lucky Dog: How Being a Veterinarian Saved My Life was published by The House of Anansi in 2014. Sarah’s book got her on the path of comedy writing and eventually stand-up comedy.
Sarah graduated from the Humber College Comedy Performance and Writing Program in April 2023, receiving the Award for Academic Excellence for the highest GPA in her program. In addition to her Humber College training, Sarah has taken comedy writing and stand-up classes at Second City, Absolute Comedy and the American Comedy Institute. She made the Top 10 in CBC Comedy’s 2019 Next Up amateur comedy competition. Sarah is the founder of the satirical veterinary online newspaper called The Cageliner.
“I’m honoured and humbled to win this award,” says Sarah Boston. “When you are a mature student pursuing comedy, it’s hard not to wonder sometimes if you are delusional. This award has shown me that I definitely am. Thank you!”
Prize: $2,500
Past Recipients
News Releases
Sarah Boston Awarded the Tim Sims Encouragement Award June 13, 2023