Comedy Central presents: Night of Overblown Hyperbole
Comedy Central presentsBold emphasis added.
Night of Too Many Stars
An overbooked Benefit for Autism Education
Starring: **Jack Black, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ricky Gervais, Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Triumph the Insult
Comic Dog AND MORE!
Date: Sunday, October 15, 2006
Location: The Beacon Theater, New York City
Time: Doors open at 6:30pm
All guests must be seated by 7:30pm (late arrivals will be seated at
appropriate intervals)
Show will be broadcast live on Comedy Central at 8:00PM
Post-Show Celebration to Follow
Ticket Prices: Ticket Packages of 10: $100,000, $50,000, $25,000, $15,000*
Individual tickets: $2,500, $1,250* (*limited availability)
Co-Chairs: Lori and George Hall, Doug Herzog, Caroline Hirsch, Yie-Hsin Hung and Stephen Farinelli, Elyse N. Kroll, Bellanca Smigel-Rutter and Mitchell
Rutter, Adam Sandler, Laura and Harry Slatkin, Lucia and Irwin Smigel,
Michelle and Robert Smigel (as of August 15, 2006)
Autism Is
Autism is a lifelong neurological disorder, which makes it painfully difficult for children to function in the world around them. Autism robs children of their ability to communicate and to understand.
Even simple play with others is often impossible. One in 166 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and the number of new cases is exploding. There is no cure.
Evening Benefits
Comedy Love Call will benefit a variety of autism education programs to support the overabundance of autistic children that so desperately need schools. Funds raised will support new schools that have recently or are just about to open their doors, as well as existing schools that are now developing innovative adult programs, providing vocational and life skills for adults with autism. Proceeds will also support outreach programs that provide training and consultation to families of very young children with autism in their homes.
A portion of proceeds will go to Autism Speaks, an organization dedicated to funding global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and cure for autism. Autism Speaks aims to raise public awareness about autism and its effects on individuals, families, and society, and mobilize the autism community to urge the government and private sector to address this urgent global health crisis.
To Purchase VIP Tickets and Packages for "Comedy Love Call" please call Debbie Fife at
Event Associates, Inc. (---) 245-6570 x20 debbief@eventassociatesinc(dot)com
Ooooh, it's like Mike Myers
meets Generation Rescue!! He could do a skit as the "Rescue Angel Lady" instead of the "Church Lady." The Rescue Angel Lady could meet up with Richard you-know-who! (Isn't that Special?) Or was that Dana Carvey who played the "Church Lady"? Mike Myers would do in a pinch. 
But wait, the Comedy Central folks say that there is no cure for autism. Surely they jest! Of course, it's just a joke. But maybe not. They are funding that organization with the bad joke for a name... Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks, is supposed to find that cure that there isn't now. Or something. Except that Autism Speaks links to DAN! docs who say they have a cure... hmmmm. And there's been an explosion of autism. Whoa. Dude. It's like this whole tsunami train-wreck thing! Dude. Totally. No mention that lots of autistic kids do know how to play with other kids, or how sometimes it's the normal kids that need to be taught how to play with the autistic kids.
But, this is good, they'll raise money for schools and even programs for the nearly non existent adult autistic population. Wowee kazowee! Adults are mentioned in the same press release as "Autism Speaks"!! Most excellent!!
They even have Sacha Baron Cohen, who makes jokes about weird men going after little girls, as opposed to his reserved cousin, Simon Baron-Cohen, the famous autism researcher who wouldn't make jokes about such things, but did give the Lathe book a good review... hmmm. Small world. Strange world.
Autism Diva
grossed out
posted by Autism Diva at 3:46 PM
9 Comments:
"urgent global health crisis"
Are they talking about AIDS here? I'm lost...
This is as bad as their commercials comparing the odds of autism to the odds of being in a car accident. A car accident is unexpected, over in an instant, and can end your life in a brutal way. Autism is a ongoing condition from birth. You adapt, the child adapts, and it probably wasn't completely unexpected if you looked at your family tree (or yourself!).
To compare a neurological condition (or mindset) to horrific physical trauma is very very strange. There is no overlap at all.
Plus, does Sacha talk to his cousin at all?
Curious that they only care about how a "lifelong neurological disorder" affects children.
Autism Diva doesn't know if Sacha talks to Simon very often, it would seem they run in different worlds.
The Autism Speaks PSA videos are gross and meant to scare people, it would seem. They are trying to say that there haven't always been 1 in 166 autism spectrum people, and they don't clarify that many of the 1 in 166 wouldn't have been diagnosed with anything like autism had they been born further in the past.
I almost felt like donating $200 to get them to stop using the words 'disease' and 'devastating' on air. Jon Stewart must have used the word 'disease' at least 4 or 5 times. It's interesting that in two hours they showed many clips but not a single clip about what actually goes on in the education programs people are donating toward...I suppose I shouldn't expect more from the same people who brought us a film about the 'everyday life' with autism under non-everyday circumstances...
-Scott
This is an interesting insight. I have a forum for parents of children with ASD, may I link this blog to my forum?
I caught a glimpse of the show but I was not aware Jon Stewart referred to autism as a 'disease'. Very sad.
Caroline
Responding to all:
Speaking from a small sample size, but my mother is an elementary school teacher and she's said that there has been a dramatic increase in the # of autistic children coming through the schools in recent years. I understand that one city/school district might not be indicative of the global community. At least these celebrities are doing something positive for the community rather than others (Paris Hilton, Britney Spears...too many to list) who only care about themselves and how much they show up in US magazine. I don't think we should bash them for trying especially with the underfunding of schools as it stands right now (and no I don't think they can look to the Bush administration for help...unless he gets out of Iraq...a tangent I know). Anyways my two cents.
I have never enjoyed Martin Short. I can not for the life of me understand who it is that does. Last Night's bit by Mr. Short on Comedy Central was overlong, insulting to those of us who do have an autistic child, and worst of all......not funny. I understand that it was C.C.'s 1st attempt at a live broadcast...and that the guests would be writing their own material, but come ON people. Adam Sandler too engrossed in a Baseball game to really participate? Will Ferrell doing a creepy half-naked Robert Goulet? Martin Short repeatedly "saying" that "this" wasn't important enough to use his real voice? I wrote better stuff with my Madlibs in grade school.
Comedy Central, John Stewart, and all who participated deserve some credit for trying. Those who wasted this opportunity to do somnething good for the community by waiting till the day of the show to even write or rehearse their material should be ashamed of themselves. They should be billed just for wasting valuable air-time, or possibly flogged in the village square. Anybody else think it pretty much sucked?
I agree that it sucked pretty hard, I was especially disappointed with the Adam Sandler skit.
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