John Mayer Performs Acoustic Set at Seth Rogen’s Hilarity for Charity Event, Helping Raise $860,000
Seth Rogen and his wife, fellow actress and screenwriter Lauren Miller Rogen, co-hosted their Hilarity for Charity 10th Birthday Extravaganza on Saturday (Oct. 1), bringing together some of today’s biggest music and comedy stars for a night of fun for a good cause.
“We started this at a time where we felt very hopeless about the situation that my family was facing with my mom,” Lauren told Billboard of the famous couple’s Alzheimer’s care organization, as the Like Father director has a personal connection to the cause. Both of her grandparents died from the condition in the 1990s, and her mother developed young-onset Alzheimer’s at 55 years old, and died in 2020.
“10 years later, I’m incredibly proud that we’ve improved people’s lives that are in the same situation like ours or worse. Making a difference in anyone’s life makes me feel hope about something that felt really hopeless for me then,” she shared.
Seth chimed in with a laugh, “Someone once said that laughter is the best medicine, but it’s a good medicine. [Alzheimer’s is] already so depressing, so whatever you can do to offset that is good. That goes for any aspect of life.”
The birthday bash was part carnival — with rides, amusement park games hosted by the Superbad writer himself, food, treats and drinks — part auction and show with performances by comedians Nicole Byer and Ron Funches, magician Justin Willman and tap dance group Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies.
The event raised over $860,000, with proceeds directly benefitting HFC’s care grant respite program, caregiver support groups and brain health education initiatives for young people. The silent and live auction to support the cause included a cooking class with restaurateur David Chang, a private skateboarding lesson with Tony Hawk, a Steph Curry-signed jersey, Harry Styles concert tickets and a pottery class with Seth and Lauren, among many other generous offerings.
Initially, the silent auction included a signed guitar from John Mayer, but during the event, the “Love on the Weekend” singer hopped onstage to turn the auction of his item into a live one. He even offered a surprise private virtual song of the winner’s choice.
Later on in the night, Mayer performed an acoustic set of six hits, including “New Light,” “Neon,” “Gravity,” “Waiting on the World to Change,” “Free Fallin'” and “Who Says,” which the Grammy winner playfully dedicated to Seth Rogan due to its marijuana-themed lyrics.
“I’ve actually only met him in passing a few times,” Seth said of his relationship to Mayer. “I’m a huge fan of his and he’s really entrenched himself in the comedy community deeply. He does a lot of shows with comedians. I don’t do stand-up, so I’m not part of that world. But he’s friends with a lot of friends of mine, and I’ve effusively sung my praises to his face on many occasions. This is the first time that we’re doing something together, and it’s so nice of him to do this.”
See below for a clip of Mayer’s “Neon” performance, shared to Twitter.
Rania Aniftos
Billboard
