The fifth annual Pardcast day-after-Thanksgiving all-star comedy telethon, now with Laffster

From noon to midnight today Pacific time, comedians and funny celebrities are going to put a smile on your Black Friday faces once more to benefit kids around the world who cannot physically smile.

But this year’s fifth annual Pardcast-a-Thon is streaming its way live to you without the usual buffers, thanks to Laffster.

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Jimmy Pardo, Matt Belknap and Pat Francis lead the usual Never Not Funny podcast as well as this very special annual Pardcast that raises money for cleft-repair surgery via Smile Train (more than $300,000 raised during the first four years of the event). You can bid on eBay auctions before, after and while you listen to the telethon, which will includes guests such as Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Andy Richter, Joel Stein, Scott Aukerman, Doug Benson and radio legend Phil Hendrie.

What’s different about broadcasting online via Laffster?

Belknap told The Comic’s Comic: “We did a live in-studio episode with Laffster last month, and the feedback was tremendous. Our fans raved about the quality of the video stream, and they also appreciated how responsive the Laffster gang was to any questions they had. Plus, Laffster allows us to raise even more money through their Rewards system: we can put memorabilia from our guests up for grabs and the viewers who donate the preset amount get the swag. The fact that we can do this on the fly in real time is really exciting, and should lead to some fun surprises throughout the night.”

“The Pardcast-a-Thon is the highlight of my Thanksgiving,” said Jon Hamm. “The fact that Jimmy doesn’t have to do this, and yet year-in and year-out does it all in the name of charity, and has grown it into a national presence, is nothing short of inspiring.”

If you’re on Twitter, you also can see what you may be missing by following the hashtag #PCAT13.

Laffster is a relatively new (still in beta) service based in Southern California that allows comedians and other performers to put on full-service shows online for their loyal fans. The home page redirects to Pardcast-A-Thon all day today.

Upcoming Laffster events include Comedy Film Nerds (Dec. 3), Tig Notaro and Professor Blastoff (Dec. 9) and Cinefamily LA’s annual event (Dec. 14).

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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