Seth Rogen’s seriously having fun
Hilarity for Charity raises Alzheimer’s awareness.
HOLLYWOOD – Laughing helps. And it doesn’t hurt to have Kermit.
Six years after Seth Rogen and his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, launched their Alzheimer’s foundation, Hilarity for Charity, the two survey the scale of production happening inside the Hollywood Palladium.
Annually, the couple, both 35, have put on a star-studded comedy event to raise money, but this year Netflix is streaming the variety show (starting Friday), which means it will be bigger than ever. For the taping of the special, the concert hall will be transformed into a large comedy club, and Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, Sarah Silverman, John Mulaney and, yes, the Muppets will be here to deliver sets.
“It’s also all we know how to do. If we were chefs, this would be called Baking for Charity. It would arguably be a much better event,” Rogen cracks.
Each round table is covered in a Netflix-red tablecloth (Rogen will nix these, swapping them out for black) and a small glowing lamp. When guests (including Robert De Niro and Jon Lovitz) arrive, the tables will be crowded with snacks and bottles of wine. The program begins with a sketch in which Rogen makes a healthy number of R-rated weed jokes, with an assist from friends Nick Kroll and Ike Barinholtz.
“We wanted to make (this special) the way we view pretty much everything: What would make us the most excited as viewers?” Rogen says. “There are a lot of Netflix comedy specials out there, so we just wanted to really try to make it unique and have a lineup that represents the people that we think are the funniest people.”
Miller’s mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s 10 years ago at age 55, a time when stigma around the disease was even higher, she says. “People didn’t talk about it in the mainstream (way) that some other diseases are portrayed. And that’s because there’s a lot of fear around it.” In the early days after her mother’s diagnosis, humor helped, Miller says. “I would say my mom’s sense of humor was something that stuck around for a long time,” she says. “At this point, it’s been four to five years since my mom has been able to communicate at all and do anything for herself. She hasn’t talked or walked or cared for herself. She’s a shell of who she used to be, which is the brutal reality of this disease.”
This year’s Hilarity for Charity show is a mix of sketches and stand-up sets. (Fozzie Bear even tries his hand at a comedy routine.) L.A.-based food trucks fuel the crowd and waiters circle during show breaks with trays of mixed drinks.
On stage during his set, Che reveals his mother has Alzheimer’s. Sometimes, he jokes, “I tell her a really mean, racist joke. It brings her back to the ’50s immediately.” He segues into a joke about how bars in New York are open until the crack of dawn. “Sometimes I drink so late, I see people my age bringing their kids to school. And we just look at each other like, ‘Boy, did you (screw) up your life.’ ”
Silverman continues along family lines. “God, I’m really going to do it, you guys. I’m really going to have no kids. I love kids,” she says. “The only thing I love more than kids is doing anything I want at any time.” Days before the #WhoBitBeyoncé scandal breaks, Haddish recounts the night she met the superstar. But she stops herself tonight: “Beyoncé came up to me and that’s all I can say about that party.” (Don’t worry, she still spills a funny bit about meeting Drake’s stepfather.)
To date, Hilarity for Charity has raised more than $7.5 million, some of which has gone to research and helping families pay for at-home care.
“People didn’t talk about (Alzheimer’s) in the mainstream (way). ... There’s a lot of fear around it.” Lauren Miller Rogen