Jimmy Fallon perfoming at YLD's Big Event. Photo credit Robert Kusel
Jimmy Fallon's everywhere these days.
Recently, you may have seen him interviewed on a talk show; caught him on a commercial; eaten his Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor; heard him deejay the top 40 countdown on the radio; and--oh yeah--watched him host his own late night talk show five nights a week. And just before the holidays, Fallon returned to his comedy alma mater Saturday Night Live to host the show's big Christmas episode.
But first, on Dec. 10, Fallon hung out only with us. Check out my interview with Fallon.
He stopped by Chicago to spread some pre-Chanukah cheer to the more than 2,600 young Jewish Chicagoans at the Young Leadership Division's (YLD) fourth Annual Big Event-the largest event in YLD history. The evening, held at the Sheraton Chicago, kicked off YLD's 2012 Annual Campaign, and featured a performance by Fallon, a comedian, actor, writer, and musician.
Fallon carries on the Late Night legacy, begun by David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, and premiered his NBC talk show Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in the spring of 2009. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Upstate New York, he worshiped Saturday Night Live (SNL) as a kid, which proved prophetic when he was cast on the show from 1998-2004. Later, the Manhattan-based star left the show to pursue film, including movies like Fever Pitch and Taxi.
A crowd as big as a football field
The party continues after Fallon's performance. Photo credit: Robert Kusel
Launching YLD's 2012 Annual Campaign, this year's Big Event was bigger than ever. In addition to paying $80 to attend, guests pledged to contribute to the 2012 JUF Annual Campaign at a level matching or increasing their previous donations--and Big Event was the first YLD event for some 1,000 guests in attendance.
The Birthright Israel Foundation partnered with YLD for the event, attracting a whopping 600 Birthright Israel alums to the event. The evening included dessert reception, open bar, after party, and late night snacks.
Jimmy Sarnoff, YLD's 2012 Campaign Vice President, welcomed the crowd to the event and talked about his trip last summer on the Jewish Federation of North America's (JFNA) Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission in Moscow, where he learned firsthand about JUF's efforts overseas. "We are being hit by storms on every front," Sarnoff told the crowd. "The one thing that remains certain during these times is that JUF has and will continue to be there to withstand these storms. Whether it is disaster relief or socioeconomic issues, people of all faiths count on JUF."
Then, the audience watched two videos: one video described the importance of helping those in need here in Chicago and in Israel. A second film conveyed what being Jewish and giving back means to young Chicago-area Jews.
Jason Chess, YLD president, was thrilled with the size of the crowd. "We never expected to sell out the hotel's main ballroom for YLD's Big Event--it's as long as a football field," Chess said. "Among the record sellout crowd, Big Event was the first YLD event attended by over 1,000 guests in the room--and that's a very powerful number. The JUF message is being spread widely among the YLD generation and the future Jewish leaders of Chicago."
From left: Chess, Fallon, and Sarnoff. Photo credit: Robert Kusel
Chess introduced Fallon to the stage, along with Jewish comedian/musician Wayne Federman, a surprise opening act. Federman, who has written for Fallon's show, has played comedic roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm and 40-Year-Old Virgin, among others. During his act, Federman explored his Jewish identity and riffed on the branches of Judaism as well as Chanukah gelt dredging up old Jewish stereotypes. Then, he commented on his own topsy-turvy Jewish migration pattern. "I grew up in Florida," he said, "and then moved to New York City, where I worked, and then I'm going to retire to Minsk-I'm doing the whole thing backwards."
Let's have a 'Carwash for Peace'
Finally, it was Fallon's turn to take the stage. It seems fitting that the comedian recently published a humor book called Thank You Notes expressing gratitude for the truisms and ironies in this world.
After all, Fallon comes across as a grateful person, who feels privileged to do what he does and doesn't take his success for granted. In fact, during the Big Event show, every now and then he'd call out to the crowd how honored he was to be there. "Thank you guys so much," he'd say. "I'm having such a fun time."
The Irish-Catholic comedian, who once considered becoming a priest, expressed his admiration for the Jewish people, including a shout-out to Jewish mothers. "I want to say thank you to all the Jewish moms I met backstage," he said. "I got offered 10-15 dishes of food--I'm not kidding--in the span of five minutes. It was so awesome and cute."
Fallon interspersed his standup comedy with impersonations, sample "thank you" notes from his book, and musical song parodies, including a kumbaya song called "Carwash for Peace." "Well I'm so sick of all the news on TV," his song began. "All this fighting got me going crazy…let's have a carwash for peace. There's trouble in the Middle East. Put down those guns and pick up a sponge-carwash for peace."
The 30-something married comedian--sorry Ladies!--peppered his act with banter with the audience. "Hey, what do you do?" he asked a guy named Jim in the front row. "Investment business," Jim responded. Fallon nodded and simply replied, "1 percent," referring to the "Occupy Wall Street" news headlines.
Fallon continued his dialogue with the crowd. "There are so many good looking people [here]-there's a Jewish Taylor Lautner," Fallon said, referring to the pretty boy star of the teen werewolf movie phenomenon Twilight. Nowadays, he said, teens appropriately play high school students in movies, but back in the 1970s, actors like John Travolta played roles way too young for their real age. Then Fallon morphed into Travolta in Grease. "I can't believe I'm a high school student…" he said. "I'm going to be late for class because I've got to go get my prostate checked…Rizzo's going through menopause."
In addition to his Travolta, Fallon impersonated a slew of celebrities, including Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, and Adam Sandler. Plus, he did musical impressions on guitar and harmonica of singers Neil Young and Bob Dylan crooning the TV theme songs to The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Charles in Charge.
Before the show ended, the comedian tested some material out in preparation for Saturday Night Live.. "Anyone here on Friendster?" Fallon polled the crowd, referring to a bygone social networking site of five years ago-an eternity in the rapidly changing tech world. Then, he tried again: "You guys are all on Facebook, right?" he asked, followed by his medley of songs by current musicians like Cee Lo Green, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber, changing their lyrics to Facebook-related themes.
Fallon's play on teen pop idol Justin Bieber's hit song "Baby," went like this: "I got the invite to your event. I ignored it so you resent. I know I'm on your mailing list. But I don't want to go to your nephew's bris. So I'm a maybe maybe maybe oh…"
A week after Big Event, Fallon performed musical bits like this one on Saturday Night Live, but the young Jews of Chicago heard it first.
A special thank you to the Birthright Israel Foundation for their generous support of YLD's Big Event. YLD's Big Event Supporting Sponsors were Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and Associated Agencies, Inc., Eleven City Diner, and The Great Escape. The Event Sponsors were Chicago Apartment Finders, Hub51, JFS Realty Capital, LTD, Paris Club, Steve's Deli, and T-Mobile.
