Jason Sudeikis, in KC for Thundergong, says the charity gets a role in new ‘Ted Lasso’
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More about KC’s Jason Sudeikis and ‘Ted Lasso’
Jason Sudeikis, who grew up in Overland Park, created and stars in the acclaimed Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso.”
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Jason Sudeikis has put plenty of references to his hometown in his Emmy-winning series “Ted Lasso” — Kansas City barbecue sauce, Kansas City T-shirts, his Shawnee Mission West High School forensics teacher.
And on Friday he revealed that his Thundergong charity event in Kansas City will get a cameo in the upcoming season.
Sudeikis and his old friend Billy Brimblecom Jr. have held the Thundergong music and comedy show for the past six years to raise money for Brimblecom’s Steps of Faith Foundation.
“Billy doesn’t even know this, there is a vague reference to (Thundergong) in one of the episodes. … It’s really, really not that vague. You’ll see it,” Sudeikis said at a press conference Friday to promote Saturday’s event, set for 7 p.m. at the Uptown Theater.
The foundation helps fund prosthetic devices for people with amputations.
Though shooting hasn’t wrapped for the next season of “Ted Lasso,” Sudeikis carved out time to return home for the event.
“There’s no way I was going to miss this based on professional obligations,” Sudeikis said.
Sudeikis, still sporting his Ted Lasso mustache, and co-star Brendan Hunt, otherwise known as the quiet, yet all-knowing Coach Beard, spent the flight from Britain to Kansas City memorizing lines before another round of filming next week, he said.
To Brimblecom’s dismay, none of the merchandise available on the Thundergong website, including a wide range of hats, hoodies and T-shirts, are set to make an appearance on the show. But on Friday he seemed delighted to have Sudeikis home for the fundraiser.
Brimblecom said Steps of Faith Foundation has already helped over 200 people get prosthetic devices in 2022.
“It’s not always this low, but for as low as $500 we can get a prosthetic limb to somebody,” Brimblecom said.
He hopes Saturday’s event pushes the organization closer to raising $500,000 before the end of the year.
The music and comedy show has raised $1.3 million and provided 845 people with a prosthetic device since it began in 2016, the organization says.
COVID-19 sent the fundraiser online, but it returns live for the first time in three years.
Organizers are bringing back some familiar guests, like Fred Armisen and Will Forte, who were “Saturday Night Live” cast members with Sudeikis.
Sam Richardson, formerly of the HBO series “Veep” who went on to guest star on “Ted Lasso” as a Ghanaian billionaire, will make his Thundergong debut.
Musical guests include rock band Hembree, country music legend Wynona Judd and Cactus Moser and British rock duo Justin and Dan Hawkins of The Darkness.
“There’s a lot of familiar faces and names, even if they’re not famous for being musicians. … But all these guys are very musical people,” Brimblecom said.
Forte and Sudeikis, for example, are known to perform duets together.
Sudeikis’ return comes after he could not make it back to his hometown in June to co-host Big Slick Celebrity Weekend, the annual charity event for Children’s Mercy, because of his filming schedule for his Apple TV+ series.
Still, Sudeikis made his presence known via video, auctioning off two trips to London and chances to join Coach Lasso in walk-on cameos. Each sold for $100,000. The charity event went on to raise a record $3.5 million.
A small amount of tickets for Thundergong were still available Friday at thundergong.org.
No word yet on when the third, and probably final, season of “Ted Lasso” will debut.
This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 1:11 PM.
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