By Ethlie Ann Vare
BRENTWOOD, CA (The Hollywood Times, October 15) — Kathy Griffin has won two Emmys and a Grammy and boasts more stand-up specials than any other living comic, but she was particularly delighted to be presented with the Heart of WeSPARK Award at the cancer charity’s annual comedy gala.
“What an honor to be given the Heart Award when I’m known to be heartless,” she joked, accepting the crystalline honor from longtime WeSPARK supporters Rachelle Carson Begley and Ed Begley Jr.
“I am a big believer in humor as healing,” writer/actor/producer /stand-up comic Griffin told me before the event. “When I had lung cancer — even though I never smoked! — I had tubes coming out of my back and all I wanted to do was laugh. I would watch comedy specials and call my funny friends and my inappropriate friends, because you go through so much stuff and some of its humiliating and you have to laugh to get through it.”
“Whether you’re a family member or you’re going through it yourself, you need to find those moments of joy,” agrees Nancy Allen (RoboCop, Carrie, Dressed to Kill), the Executive Director of WeSPARK. “Our founder, Wendie Jo Sperber, loved to laugh and she loved to make people laugh.”
Sperber, who passed away from cancer in 2005, started WeSPARK back in 2001. It provides a wide array of wellness services and emotional support to people affected by a cancer diagnosis — both the patient and their family and caregivers. “Next year will be our 25th anniversary,” says Allen. “I can’t believe we’ve been doing it this long.”
All of WeSPARK’s services are 100% free, hence the annual comedy fundraiser. This year, the May Contain Nuts gala raised a remarkable $230,000; Griffin herself made a sizable gift in honor of her sister and brother, both of whom died of cancer.
Emcee Alonzo Bodden (Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me), who has been hosting the comedy bash almost since it began, says: “My favorite thing about WeSPARK is the way they help the people around the cancer patient. Educating, helping people… most of us don’t know how to be caretakers. It’s a very helpless feeling when somebody in your circle gets cancer. So it’s great to have an organization that says, hey, this is what you can do to help, and this is how you help yourself as you’re caring for the other person.”
“It’s amazing to me, the services they provide,” said one distinctive voice among the guests — the voice of The Brain in Pinky and the Brain, Maurice LaMarche. “I’ve got friends who have been through the WeSPARK Center and benefited from what they do.”
The Skirball Center was packed with people, many of whom you’d recognize and all of whom are fans of Nancy Allen’s drive and commitment. Some of them didn’t know until she announced it from the stage that she herself has just passed five years cancer-free.
The comedy lineup kicked off with John Henson (Talk Soup), who warned the crowd that he’s not really a stand-up comedian. “I read English off a teleprompter,” he demurred. (Note: He’s also funny without a teleprompter.)
Next up was the smart and observant Laurie Kilmartin (Conan, The Late Late Show), who reminded us of some unintended consequences of pandemic lockdown — like how teenagers now wear pajamas to high school. “They do have separate pairs of business pajamas.”
I would say you’d recognize Billy Gardell from the sitcoms Mike & Molly and Bob Hearts Abishola, but you might not recognize him at all: he’s lost 173 pounds. “I went from a young Jackie Gleason to an old Paul Newman,” he grimaced. His set hit the highs and lows of real life, from the joy of fitting into the middle seat on a plane to the pain of losing his father to cancer.
Headlining the event was The Tonight Show’s legendary Jay Leno, who took the stage announcing, “I just got back from entertaining the troops — don’t applaud! I didn’t have to leave L.A.”
With May Contain Nuts put to bed, Nancy Allen turns her attention to the WeSPARK annual run-walk, the celebrity golf tournament, and the celebrity poker game. Last year, there was even a Drag Queen Bingo Night. Talk about entertaining the troops.
