SUPPORTING HILARITY FOR CHARITY IN A CROWN & SASH

Red Carpet Photo
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 By:

Brooke Morgan Westlake-Kelley, 

MS. Nevada,

2015 Woman of Achievement

Saturday October 17^th My husband and I attended the annual variety comedy show Hilarity for Charity, held at the Hollywood Palladium. If you’re not familiar with this wonderful fundraiser/event, I’m happy to share with you the who, what, when, where and why I support this event.

“about hilarity for charity

This Beauty Queen Drinks
WINE
& I like it Red :)
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Happy Bar Mitzvah-Franco!
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Hilarity for Charity® (HFC) is a movement led by comedian Seth Rogen to inspire change and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease among the millennial generation.”

This year’s 4th annual variety show Hilarity for Charity featured James Franco’s Bar Mitzvah, presented by Funny or Die and go90.  Comedians who entertained the packed Palladium included Bill Hader, Kyle Kinane, Al Madrigal, Ron Funches, Justin Willman, host Seth Rogen, and James Franco, and musicians HAIM and Miley Cyrus also performed a four-song set.  

Hollywood Palladium
Hilarity for Charity-2015
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The Start:  This year’s Hilarity for Charity event was well organized and flowed nicely from start to finish.  Cocktails, food trucks, red carpet, and a beautiful BMW, were part of the pre-party that took place outside the Hollywood Palladium before the show started.  My husband Scott and I walked the red carpet for some photos. We posed  in front of a large poster of James’ Franco’s face, and we got to sign a bigger face of  Franco’s inside the Palladium wishing him a happy Bar Mitzvah. 

Posing in front of the awesome 2016 BMW, & Taking 
Official Pageant Photos with guests
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(God Bless This HFC Volunteer)
(He is a primary caretaker for his Grandma)

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Once the sunset and the red carpet photos of the stars were snapped and interviews were given, we were all gathered up to go inside and take our seats. A lovely dinner table awaited for us. Scott and I got our seats and were treated to a very different variety comedy show (After all this is not the kind of show you cover your ears for). We had five other ladies that joined our table. To my left, I made a new friend from Canada named Deanna who had flown in for the show and to get a few days of vacation in Southern California. To my husband’s right, two lovely ladies from Minnesota had also flown in for the show. Across from us were two other lovely ladies, but we did not get a chance to speak with them.

The Show:  The grand entrance from the one and only, comedian and actor superstar Seth Rogen, dancing and singing “Fiddler on the Roof”. The room filled with laughter as we all knew we were in for the type of comedy that is always outside of the box.  After all, with theme for this year being James Franco’s Bar Mitzva, and knowing the types of funny, crazy movies these two have done, than you know they get crazy with their comedy.. 

After the grand entrance by Seth, we received critical doses of comedy from Bill Hader, Kyle Kinane, Al Madrigal, and Ron Funches. I love comedy, and so for me this I actually consider medical critical does for me; however something that set this show apart this year was the magic from Justin Willman.

(Sign the Franco FACE. Thanks Hilarity for Charity! James's NOSE is hot when printed bigger!)
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Hollywood Palladium-Hilarity for Charity 2015
Copyright: BMW Photography

Favorite Performance:  
Justin Willman’s was one of my favorite acts of the night. He drew random people from the crowd and asked them to think of numbers, while another volunteer on stage up the numbers on a iphone calculator until they read 10,172,015,840., This whole time, another volunteer from the audience was sitting on an envelope that Justin had given at the beginning of his act. I felt like he was MacGyver of the magic industry. The envelope had quote inside. So we were all perplexed to where this trick was heading when all the sudden he used the quote and went over to the dry erase board. It turns out the number represented the date: October 17, 2015, and when Justin asked everyone to look at their iPhones, the time was exactly 8:40 p.m. The delivery and execution of his magic was impactful with the quote.  It brought me to my toes to clap, and gave me chills when the end trick was revealed. On a side note, he met his wife 4 years ago at the first Hilarity for Charity. How cute is that?

James Getting Clipped!
Hollywood Palladium
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Getting back to the show’s theme We watched James Franco become an “official” man by his on-stage (fake) circumcision by Jeff Goldbum, with an up-close look at the foreskin of a pre-taped video of Zac Efron as the “foreskin”.  That event had everyone laughing. As mentioned before this is not the kind of show to cover the ears and eyes at because with Seth and James, you never know what these two will dream up.

Bill-Thank you for taking a photo of me while
you were dancing on stage. Tag me!
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The auction was very entertaining as the Auctioneer and movie star Bill Hadler were very funny at raising money for the cause. Bill was truly on point with comments to people who auctioned for items. And this is critical because people bid hundreds of thousands of dollars on the various packages, and this funding will go toward combating Alzheimer’s and raising awareness.

Ken & Nikki Dodson. HUGS & Prayers to you both!
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Touching Moments: I cried twice during the night, and my poor husband kept handing me these nice imprinted napkins to wipe my tears…. The first cry session hit when they showed the on-screen commercial to the audience in regards to Alzheimer’s. The second tear session hit while listening to Nikki Dodson speaking about her husband. He is 37 years old and is living with Alzheimer’s, and she reached out to Hilarity for Charity a year or so ago about her story.

Miley Cyrus Performs for Hilarity for Charity
Hollywood Palladium
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(James- Don't worry. I think this was a fake "Circumcision")
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​Favorite Moment: 

Moving into the music jams for the night, we were then greeted with ear filling music performances by HAIM and then a surprise performance by Miley Cyrus in a blue thong swimsuit wearing the Star of David. I looked over and said to my husband “Wow, I was not prepared for this part.” People got up from tables and were moving to the music, so I decided to go to the front of the stage. Now would Miley have been my first person as a pick to listen to? No, but let me tell you, her vocals were amazing. I  believe she sounds better in person then on the radio as you are able to hear her fully range of vocals. That lady can sing and it was beautiful to hear. Towards the end of Miley’s performance, people were let on stage.; I thought “Hum should I go for it?” and then I thought “Na, I am enjoying the moment being right front and center.” Plus I am pretty sure it would not have looked good with me trying to hop up on stage in an evening gown, tiara, and sash on.

(Miley- I actually wanted to rescue you after
I took this photo. You look scared of these fans
In a good way :)
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I snapped many photos with my new iPhone and got some pretty comical shots. Jame’s Franco fixin the zipper, Miley looking terrified with some of the fans getting extra close to her to take selfies, Bill Hadler busting a move with Miley’s final song, and then the darling couple of the night – Seth and Lauren Miller- Rogen thanking everyone for coming to the show. 

Lauren Miller-Rogen & Seth Rogen
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Lauren Miller-Rogen, Seth Rogen & James Franco
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Loved finding this photo on Twitter...
Copyright: Hilarity for Charity

The After Party & BEST HIGH LIGHT: The night continued with an after party on the second floor of the Pallidum. My husband and I danced and mingled with new people, took photos in the photo booth, and learned more about why people support Hilarity for Charity. And then it happened! Nikki Dodson and her husband came to the party.  I told my husband who just came to the party and said I have go meet them in person.  I had to give Nikki a hug and tell her how amazing she was and that I cried in my seat and felt bad. When she was on stage I kept thinking of my grandma and all the many families that have gone through this painful, horrible, rotten disease.

Final numbers: Total raised $2.5 MILLION!

END NOTE: WHY DO I SUPPORT ALZHEIMER’S FUNDRAISERS AND CAUSES.

(Shout out to our new friend, Deanna)
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(look to the left.. cracking up! I made it in the picture).
Group Pic: Hilary for Charity-2015

To my readers:  I am a wife, mother, worker, business owner, and an Alzheimer’s representative for the State of Nevada on several different levels. I am a Ms. Nevada Woman of Achievement 2015 title holder getting ready for nationals next month, Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. I am also a Volunteer for the Northern Nevada Northern California Alzheimer’s Association, and at the annual Alzheimer’s Walk a  team captain for my team “Remember My Photo. “Recently, I became an volunteer for Alzheimer’s Advocacy Reporting & Trends appreciation, where I am a member on Sen. Dean Heller’s Team. I take free portraits of Alzheimer’s patients, and also have a series of photography’s called “Purple Dignity” where I am using my photography as an art to shine awareness on this disease. http://bmwphotoproject.blogspot.com/2015/03/series-1-purple-dignity.html

My personal story related to this disease:

My Alzheimer’s journey started in 2002 when my grandma was diagnosed and a portion of that journey ended on February 24, 2012 at 4:25pm while I was holding my grandma as she took her last breathe. (ugh now I am getting all teary eyed). Here is my story:

http://bmwphotoproject.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-am-shifting-gears-for-my-blog-all-for.html

#ENDALZ #WIPEOUTALZ #REMEMBERMYPHOTO #BEVERLYJEAN #BMWPHOTOGRAPHY #AlzSucks #Francsbarmitzvah #HFC 
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