At the LA Largo at the Coronet last Thursday night, the existential terror of making people laugh for a living in this age of perpetual global crisis was on full display.
Through a night of standup performances, the cast and creative team behind Bob's Burgers teamed up with theInternational Rescue Committee to raise funds for famine relief and refugee resettlement from Yemen.
Host Kristen Schaal (voice of Louise Belcher), kicked off the night by telling the crowd that, "We're gonna feed some hungry refugee kids. I decided not to do the research cause I didn't wanna get depressed. I mean, I have to be fun tonight!"
SEE ALSO:12 Things 'Bob's Burgers' Taught Us About BusinessRaising funds for refugee families relocated to Los Angeles, the event featured a full roster of comedy legends, from Bob's Burgersregulars to friends of the show:Zach Galifianakis (the voice of Felix Fischoeder), Dan Mintz (Tina Belcher), Andy Kindler (Mort), Will Forte (Mr. Grant), Ron Funches (self-described "fan of the show"), andPod Save Americaco-founder Jon Lovett.
While this was the first "Beef Relief" (get it?) event, the team hopes to put on more benefits in the future.
Fighting the spectral ghost of Trump, imminent nuclear war, and every other global humanitarian disaster right now -- nearly every comedian grappled with the paralysis of what the fuck to do. (And sorry, Tina Fey, it'll take more than eating cake.)
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Schaal's opening monologue took a #tooreal jab at the slacktivism we're allguilty of:
This event is the brain child of [Bob's Burger's executive producer] Wendy Molyneux. She emailed me because she saw that there were starving children in Yemen and she wanted to do something about it. And I was like wow, you could just retweet about it to followers thinking the same thing. You know, just throw up into each other's mouths like the rest of us.
Schaal also addressed the inherent contradiction of trying to address real-world tragedies through art and entertainment. Building on the resurgence ofThe Vagina Monologuesin the age of Trump -- which she claims really got her "juices flowing" -- Schaal created her own dramatic 48 Taint-ologues as a "call to action to accept some of the other body part we're ashamed of."
"And for those of you who are a little confused, the taint tain'tthe balls and it tain'tthe vagina and it tain'tthe anus. Tain'tnothing there! It's the tiant -- and that's the nursery rhyme about it."
Credit: foxOverall, the night sent an uplifting message about remaining active in the face of the world's mounting horrors.
Yes, we need to fight to stay engaged and stave off the temptation of apathy. But doing it doesn't need to be a drag, as Schaal definitively proved:
We're raising awareness tonight, and speaking about my crotch, there's other issues going on right now. We've elected a leader who said it was okay for him to grab women's pussies haha! Then he won. I thought we'd have to do a Women's March if someone put down President Hillary's saggy boobs, but that would've been such a delight. So, yeah, we got our faces kicked in the mud. But the best thing about it is how we've been able to raise more awareness about issues, look each other in the eye now, and know that it's time to work hard for the things we believe in.
If you missed the event, there's still plenty of time to donate to the cause and others. To attend future Beef Relief events, keep an eye on the website and Bento Box Entertainment Twitter.
TopicsSocial Good
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