Jason Sudeikis Hosts the 10th Annual Thundergong! Benefit Concert for Steps of Faith
The sold-out comedy and music variety show at Kansas City’s Uptown Theater has raised more than $5 million to provide prosthetic limbs for uninsured amputees.
This Saturday night, November 14, 2026, the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, becomes the center of one of the most beloved charity events in American entertainment. Jason Sudeikis, the Kansas City-area native who went from improv stages to Saturday Night Live to Ted Lasso, hosts the 10th annual Thundergong!, a live music and comedy variety show that raises money for the Steps of Faith Foundation. The foundation pays for prosthetic limbs for amputees who have no insurance or not enough of it. Tickets for the anniversary edition are sold out, but the public can still take part through an online raffle, a silent auction, merchandise and direct donations.
Doors open at 7:00 PM, with the show at 7:30 PM, and the format is the one that has made Thundergong! a cult favorite: Sudeikis presides over a night of songs, sketches and surprises alongside the Kansas City house band Summer Breeze, with a rotating cast of celebrity musicians and comedians who stand up beside the local players.
A Friendship Behind the Fundraiser
The origin story is a simple one, and it is why the event feels more like a family reunion than a gala. Sudeikis and drummer Billy Brimblecom Jr. met as young men at a ComedySportz improv workshop in Kansas City in 1995. Sudeikis went on to Saturday Night Live and later won Emmys for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series and best comedy series for Ted Lasso. Brimblecom became a professional musician in Nashville. In 2005, Brimblecom lost his left leg above the knee to Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer, and when he went to get a prosthetic, his insurance covered only half, leaving a bill of about $25,000.
His friends rallied. Sudeikis helped organize what Brimblecom later remembered as a good old-fashioned Kansas City barbecue, famously declaring they would “Kansas City the crap out of it.” It raised more than enough to buy Brimblecom a new leg, but the experience left both men with a bigger question: what happens to people who do not have a famous friend with a megaphone? The answer became Steps of Faith, the foundation Brimblecom leads as executive director, and an annual benefit that Sudeikis and Brimblecom launched in 2017 at the Uptown Theater. The first Thundergong! was held that November, with a goal of raising $250,000 before Giving Tuesday.
What Prosthetics Really Cost
The need is stark. Prosthetic care can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 out of pocket, and Brimblecom has pointed out that even a basic limb starts at several thousand dollars. For uninsured and underinsured amputees, that cost can be the difference between returning to work and a life on disability. The foundation, which is based in Overland Park, Kansas, and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, aims to reconnect amputees with their communities, families and workplaces by taking the financial burden off the table. One recipient told CBS News that he was facing a life on disability until Brimblecom and Steps of Faith stepped in, and that Brimblecom simply told him, “We gotcha.”
From Local Benefit to National Phenomenon
The numbers show how far the event has come. The 2021 edition, held virtually, raised nearly $400,000, bringing the six-year total to about $1.3 million. In November 2023, the seventh annual show raised more than $800,000 and went viral when Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham, his Ted Lasso co-star, performed a duet of “Shallow” on the Uptown stage. Last year’s ninth edition raised $1,135,588, pushing the nine-year total past $5 million. Steps of Faith says the money has provided prosthetics for more than 2,400 people across the country.
Who Is Taking the Stage
Part of the fun of Thundergong! is that the guest list is always partly a surprise, and the show says more guests will be announced and the lineup is subject to change. The names confirmed so far include Will Forte, Brendan Hunt, Sam Richardson, D’Arcy Carden, Paloma Cinco, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Angel Giuffria, Rebekah Paster, Jason Barnes, Lefty Williams and “Weird Al” Yankovic, along with Summer Breeze. Past editions have featured surprise sets and collaborations with Hannah Waddingham, Will Forte, Wynonna Judd, Nate Bargatze, Nathaniel Rateliff, Sammy Hagar, Fred Armisen and Brendan Hunt.
How to Help Without a Ticket
With the theater sold out, the online raffle and auction are the way for the public to join in. Featured items include a dart set signed by Sudeikis, an obvious nod to Ted Lasso; a signed Flavor Flav clock; a Godfather pinball machine; a signed “Weird Al” Yankovic Funko Pop; and a suite at a Kansas City Mavericks hockey game. Donations can also be made directly through thundergong.org, and more about the foundation’s work is available at stepsoffaithfoundation.org.
