Ever sit around with your friends and recite the lines from your favorite movies and TV shows? Seth Rogen has made that pastime a reality. As part of Netflix Is a Joke Fest, the comedian curated and hosted four evenings from May 1 to May 4 at the Orpheum Theatre in Hollywood, featuring his friends and Netflix stars reading the scripts from Seinfeld, Friday, When Harry Met Sally... and Clueless. All the proceeds from the live table reads will go to HFC (Hilarity for Charity), whose mission is to care for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, inspire the next generation of Alzheimer’s advocates and be leaders in brain health research and education. Don’t worry if you weren’t able to hear June Squibb say, “I’ll have what she’s having,” in person. We have clips of spotlight moments from each of the table reads below.
Rogen’s four-night residency at the Orpheum kicked off on May 1 with a live reading of three episodes from Seinfeld, including the “shrinkage” episode (Season 5, Episode 21, “The Hamptons,” for those eager to watch at home). The additional two episodes were “The Marine Biologist” (Season 5, Episode 14) and “The Contest” (Season 4, Episode 11). Playing Seinfeld’s classic foursome were Rogen himself as Jerry, Aziz Ansari as George, Jack Black as Kramer and Kathryn Hahn as Elaine. Rogen’s friends Natasha Leggero, Brendan Scannell, Moshe Kasher and John O’Hurley rounded out the lineup.
Night 2 of Rogen’s table reads featured F. Gary Gray’s 1995 classic, Friday, written by and starring Ice Cube and DJ Pooh. Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr. (who previously played Ice Cube in Straight Outta Compton) took on his father’s role of Craig Jones, with Brian Simpson as DJ Pooh’s Red, GaTa as Smokey, Xosha Roquemore as Debbie, George Wallace as Mr. Jones, Luenell as Mrs. Jones, Janelle James as Dana, Lil Rel Howery as Deebo, Zainab Johnson as Joi, Ron Funches as Ezal and Maggie Maye and Tony Baker playing multiple roles. In addition to reading Big Worm and Pastor Clever, Craig Robinson played music for the reading with his band, The Nasty Delicious, while Seth Rogen read the stage directions.
We’ll have what Zazie Beetz is having — and so will June Squibb. Squibb read aloud the staple “I’ll have what she’s having” after Beetz performed the infamous “orgasm” scene during night 3’s table read of When Harry Met Sally... (1989), directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron. Joining Beetz as Sally onstage were Nick Kroll as Harry, Rory Scovel as Sally’s best friend, Marie, and Rogen himself as Harry’s best friend, Jess. Rounding out the cast were Squibb (taking on the role Reiner’s mother brought to life in the film), Casey Wilson, Atsuko Okatsuka, Tommy Chong and Stephen Merchant as the narrator. Rogen introduced the live reading by praising Billy Crystal, who originally played Harry, calling him “the pinnacle of Jewish male sexuality.”
The Orpheum was totally buggin’ for the closing night of table reads, honoring Amy Heckerling’s Clueless (1995). Emily in Paris herself, Lily Collins, read as Cher, along with Storm Reid as Dionne, Quinta Brunson as Tai, Mason Gooding as Travis, King Bach as Murray, Joel Kim Booster as Christian, Ray Romano as Mr. Hall/Mel Horowitz, Kerri Kenney-Silver as Amber/Miss Geist (and others) and Jimmy Tatro as Elton. Breckin Meyer, who played Travis in the original film, read as Josh. The Red Room Orchestra provided the music for the evening and promptly covered the Mighty Mighty Bosstones (who played “Where’d You Go?” during the dance party scene in the film).
