Patrick Mahomes, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis on drums propel Big Slick to another record

The biggest slate of celebrity guests at Big Slick Celebrity Weekend helped raise another record, just over $3.5 million, for Children’s Mercy, the hosts announced Saturday to cap a riotous show at the T-Mobile Center.

The evening proved that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce can’t handle his hot wings, that Ted Lasso can play drums and that sick children would benefit from all the humor and music.

At the end of a show that ran four hours, the event’s Kansas City co-hosts — Jason Sudeikis, Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle, Eric Stonestreet and Heidi Gardner — announced that in its 14 years, Big Slick has now raised more than $20 million for the hospital.

Big Slick “grew faster than we ever could have imagined,” Rudd said after he and his fellow hosts walked out onto the stage surrounded by smoke and lights like pro wrestlers.

Gardner, a new host this year, received the first of several ovations from the crowd of 5,500, a near sell-out of the available seats.

Host David Koechner could not attend and appeared via video explaining that he was in the process of moving and celebrating his twins’ birthday. In his honor, Gardner brought out cowboy hats, like Koechner typically wears, for the hosts to wear.

Among the evening’s highlights:

▪ Irish comedian Aisling Bea, during a stand-up routine, made the crowd groan when she said she “liked the old airport” in Kansas City. She added: “It reminded me of what it must have been like when the ancestors arrived.”

▪ Stonestreet asked the crowd to put “the full force of Kansas City behind” fiddler — please, not violinist — Philip Bowen, who is competing on “America’s Got Talent.” The crowd roared when he played Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” on his fiddle at Rudd’s request.

▪ Rudd and Gardner led two teams in a trivia game where a right answer meant the other team had to eat hot wings. Kelce’s face turned noticeably red after he tasted KC-made sauce Da’ Bomb Beyond Insanity, leading someone to yell: “Travis, those sunglasses don’t hide the tears.”

▪ At one point Sudeikis – aka Ted Lasso – took a seat at a set of drums on stage and stayed there, offering timely rim shots and keeping a steady beat for the auction action.

▪ “Weird Al” Yankovic left the stage and danced among the VIP guests seated at tables on the arena floor — where Brittany Mahomes sat before joining her husband on stage — as Yankovic sang his parody of the song “Happy.”

▪ The story of two Children’s Mercy patients, one of whom came out on stage with his mother and received an autographed football from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, cut through the comedy as a reminder of what brings all these celebrities to Kansas City year after year.

During the annual auction of high-ticket items, the chance to attend a University of Kansas basketball game, visit the locker room and party later with Riggle sold for $22,000.

Gardner offered a “Saturday Night Live” experience of tickets to a show next season and a visit to her dressing room and the famous stage. She joked that hers was “the best dressing room around. Travis Kelce can vouch for it,” referencing his recent stint as a host. When the audience loudly “ahhhhed,” Gardner said, “Kansas City, stop. Not like that. He tailgated in my dressing room.”

Gardner’s “SNL” castmate, Punkie Johnson, in her debut appearance at Big Slick, goosed the offer. A professed New Orleans Saints fan, Johnson said the winning bidder could, uh, use the bathroom in her dressing room and get a lap dance from her, and she promised to wear a Mahomes/Kelce jersey that also trashes former Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The ‘SNL” trip raised $50,000.

But it was outdone by an offer from Rudd and “Stranger Things” star Finn Wolfhard of tickets to the premiere of their “Ghostbusters” sequel next year, where Rudd promised the winners would get to see the original Ghostbusters, including Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd.

Three winners each bid $53,000 after Rudd promised to throw in some of his “sweaty” costumes from the movie.

Among the musical artists, Chris Daughtry, Blue Springs native David Cook and Darius Rucker performed, with Rucker ending the night before the totals were announced.

Hinting that the celebrities aren’t given any ground rules to follow when they perform, Johnson’s stand-up routine late in the evening was not PG-13, prompting Rudd to joke later that she was going to hang around an extra day “and visit the hospital tomorrow and perform for the kids.”

Before the weekend officially began, magician Blake Vogt, along with Stonestreet and some of the Chiefs’ offensive line, entertained Children’s Mercy patients on Thursday.

Friday morning, the Big Slick hosts gathered for a press conference at the hospital followed by a game of “Friendly Feud” with their guests. And that evening brought a silly game of softball at Kauffman Stadium.

Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed a “Catching Kelce” joke to Katherine McNamara.

This story was originally published June 4, 2023 at 2:32 AM.

Lisa Gutierrez

The Kansas City Star

816-562-6832

Lisa Gutierrez has been a reporter for The Kansas City Star since 2000. She learned journalism at the University of Kansas, her alma mater. She writes about pop culture, local celebrities, trends and life in the metro through its people. Oh, and dogs. You can reach her at lgutierrez@kcstar.com or follow her on Twitter - @LisaGinKC.