Humor Helps & TED Takes Beverly Hills

NIGHT OF A MILLION LAUGHS IN MALIBU
There was magic in the air when Liane and Richard Weintraub opened their home for an intimate gathering to benefit the Malibu Foundation for Youth & Families. The intent of this Night of a Million Laughs was serious—funding the Boys & Girls Club of Malibu’s Teen Center (which hosts kids daily and provides youth-development services)—but the audience cracked up until they cried with Billy Crystal, Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern and others. Among our longtime friends on hand were Kelly Meyer, who works to ensure the local school system is green; photographer Lyndie Benson and her husband, Kenny G; Keely and Pierce Brosnan; Nichole and John C. McGinley; Steve Tisch; Mike Scully; Monique Lhuillier; Cindy Landon; Diana and Roger Jenkins; Dean Cain; Colleen and Bradley Bell; and Shannon and Dean Factor. You know what? Laughter is the best medicine.

HONORING A TED PRIZE RECIPIENT IN BEVERLY HILLS
One of my favorite couples, Sue Smalley and Kevin Wall, hosted a cocktail party at their Beverly Hills home in honor of TED Prize recipient José Abreu, founder of El Sistema, a program that has fostered great musicians and changed the lives of Venezuela’s neediest kids. Peter Morton, Jesse Dylan and actresses Daphne Zuniga and Sara Ramírez were among the group in the garden listening to the inspired words of TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) curator Chris Anderson, who wholly believes music can transform. After an incredible performance by the El Sistema orchestra, piano wunderkind Eric Lewis took the stage to show why his name is on everyone’s lips and why he was invited to play for the Obamas at the White House. We got the message—and the music delivered it.