Bob Saget, Susan Feniger to Host Oct. 18 Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine, Benefiting SRF

Bob Saget will return to host the 34th annual Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine fundraiser, benefiting the Scleroderma Research Foundation (SRF), on Sunday, Oct. 18. The comedian will be joined by celebrity chef and restaurateur Susan Feniger as co-host of the now online event.

The fundraiser will for the first time be a virtual experience open to global audiences, according to a press release. The event will be live-streamed on YouTube and feature a bey of special musical and comedian guests, including Jack Black, Kelly Clarkson, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, and John Stamos. 

Cool Comedy – Hot Cuisine was started in 1987 by SRF founder and first CEO Sharon Monsky to help raise funds and awareness for scleroderma. To date, the event has raised more than $45 million to fund scleroderma research. 

To register for the event, go here. Sponsorships begin at the “Friend” level for $100.

This year, the event will feature an online silent auction with prize packages including tequila shots with Saget and fellow comedian Joel McHale, virtual cocktails and conversation with Feniger and actor Ben Feldman, and a personalized workout with distance swimmer Diana Nyad.

Registration for the auction begins Thursday, Oct. 1. Bidding opens Monday, Oct. 12, and ends one week later. For more information and to register, visit here.

Monsky first invited Saget to host the event in 1992, sparking a friendship that lasted until her death in 2002 from complications of scleroderma. For nearly three decades, Saget has hosted the fundraiser, which became a personal commitment to him early on after his sister was found to have scleroderma. 

“Two years later my sister, Gay, was diagnosed with this disease — and by the third time I hosted the event in 1994, she had lost her life to scleroderma. It’s my life’s mission to support those affected and do what I can to help find a cure for this horrible disease,” Saget said.

Feniger, also a close friend of Monsky’s, was a founding member of the SRF Board of Directors in 1988 and has helped spearhead the fundraiser for decades. Saget has served as an SRF board member since 2002.

The event is sponsored by Actelion Pharmaceutical, along with support from other sources including Boehringer Ingelheim, BCS Private Wealth Management, and Kadmon. Individual sponsors include Luke Evnin, PhD, Deann Wright, Violetta and Andrew Merin, Richard and Nancy Robbins, and Monksy’s husband and children, Mark, Max, Samantha, and Montana Scher.