Wearing Big Slick T-shirts, KC caps, Al Roker and the celebs share jokes on 'Today'

There's more to Big Slick than meets the eye.

NBC "Today" co-host and weatherman Al Roker, who was in Kansas City over the weekend as a guest for the annual Children's Mercy hospital fundraiser, devoted some time on the show Tuesday looking at the people who make it happen.

(Hint: The people behind it aren't just the famous faces you see.)

For instance, Jason Sudeikis' mother, Kathy, plans all the travel. When Eric Stonestreet invites a friend to Big Slick, that friend has to call Kathy to set up the plan. She's also a travel professional.

All of the hometown heroes' had parents or siblings, including those of Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Rob Riggle, get involved in some way.

"Really, they're the ones that do all the work," Koechner said. "We just show up."

That's something Rudd said makes the event unique: It's all volunteers. There's no company behind Big Slick; there's no CEO.

"The benefit of that is there's no administrative costs, there's no overhead," Rudd said. "So whatever donation is going in, it's going directly to the hospital."

So where did the name 'Big Slick' come from? (Of course, Kansas Citians know the answer.)

The event started as a poker tournament. Riggle explained in an expanded interview that a big slick in Texas Hold 'em is the hand ace-king.

"It's like the Utah Jazz," Sudeikis joked, where the name made sense when the team was in New Orleans — the home of jazz.

"Isn't that where the Mormon 'Jazernacle' choir is?" Rudd added, laughing.

Roker also shared that he met several patients at Children's Mercy, including 10-year-old Peyton and his brother Eli.

Peyton gave Roker his best "I'm Batman" impression.

Peyton was diagnosed with lymphoma last month but had a special surprise for Roker: a drawing featuring National Donut Day, the 'Today' show and Pokemon.

"I wouldn't trade this for donuts," Roker said.

Now, it's framed.

This year's Big Slick, from June 1-2, raised more than $2 million — the most since the event was founded in 2010. The event featured a visit to the hospital, a celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium, a red carpet bowling tournament at Pinstripes in Overland Park and a star-studded auction.

At the auction, Roker gave away two $22,000 trips to the "Today" show set and a chance to do the weather with him live.

This story was originally published June 5, 2018 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Wearing Big Slick T-shirts, KC caps, Al Roker and the celebs share jokes on 'Today'."