Comedy Central Autism Benefit Well Stocked With Celebs

Later this month, Comedy Central is set to air a benefit to help raise money for Autism education. Jon Stewart is on board to host and a number of celebrities are already set to appear on the show. Among the most recently added are Kelsey Grammer, Ben Stiller, Maroon 5 and The Roots.

The live charity special, called Night of too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education will air on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. EST. The goal of the benefit (aside from making people laugh) is to raise money and awareness of the shortage of education programs for kids with autism. Among the other celebrities set to appear at the benefit are Fred Armisen, Will Arnett, Matthew Broderick, Tom Brokaw, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Susie Essman, Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Will Forte, Jonah Hill, Kevin James, Rosie O’Donnell, Amy Poehler, Conan O’Brien, Adam Sandler, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and others. The Roots are set to be the house band for the evening.

After the live airing of the event, the special will be available for purchase and download on iTunes as of April 15th. All proceeds for the $1.99 cost per download will go towards the charity. Viewers will have the opportunity to donate to the charity directly through ComedyCentral.com. The “Night of Too Many Stars” benefit raised more than $2.5 million in October of 2006.

Given that Comedy Central is home to South Park, a series that might be likely to poke fun of autistic kids (if it hasn’t already), it’s nice to see the network reaching out and doing something to benefit kids with the disorder.

For more information about the special, including video from the 2006 benefit, CLICK HERE.