Brooklyn-born actor Steve Schirripa, known for his role as Bobby Baccala on “The Sopranos,” will host the fifth “Garden of Laughs” fundraiser April 13 at Radio City Music Hall. All proceeds for the event will benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation, which “helps young people facing illness, financial challenges, or the death or injury of a family member in uniform experience lasting joy and build successful futures.”
The event will feature comedians including Ronny Chieng, John Oliver, Zarna Garg and Hasan Minhaj, with celebrity presenters including John Turturro, Kenan Thompson, Susie Essman and more.
The Bensonhurst native is a longtime supporter and advisory board member of Garden of Dreams. He told Brooklyn Paper that these events have helped raise $8.5 million for the foundation.
“It’s just a wonderful charity,” he said. “All the money stays in the tri-state area, and they help underprivileged kids, foster kids, children that aren’t well with scholarships and ‘make-a-wish’ type activities.”
He added that the organization is made up of volunteers and holds a variety of other events.
“No one’s getting paid,” Schirripa said. “[Garden of Dreams] does talent shows and they take care of the kids at the prom, and they’ve built basketball courts — a bunch of great stuff.”
His role at the event consists of an opening monologue, bringing up presenters and “setting the stage for the real comics,” adding that he is “not a comedian.”
“You’ll get to see all these wonderful New York celebrities bring up the comics, which features a really great lineup,” he said.
Past iterations of “Garden of Laughs” had been held at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, but this year’s comics are heading down the street to Radio City Music Hall.
“ I’ve been there as an audience member lately, but, I haven’t been on that stage since the end of ‘The Sopranos’ in 2007. So I’m looking forward to that. It’s always good memory.”
He added that transitioning the event to Radio City is a “great sign” for the foundation
“Radio City Music Hall is gold, that’s the spot, man,” he added. “There’s no place better, you know?”
When asked about his favorite part of “Garden of Laughs,” Schirripa said, “The end of the night when I know how much money we made.”
“I love it because that’s what it’s all about — making money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation.”
Schirripa added that New Yorkers should come to “Garden of Laughs” because “we all need to laugh right now.”
”It’s going to be a wonderful night and will be a good one if you like to laugh,” he said.
“Garden of Laughs” will kick off on April 16 at 8 p.m. at Radio City Music Hall. Tickets are available here.
