David Koechner talks Big Slick, Patrick Mahomes’ improv skills and Kansas City love
Uniquely KC is a Star series exploring what makes Kansas City special. From our award-winning barbecue to rich Midwestern history, we’re exploring why KC is the “Paris of the Plains.”
Back in the embryonic stages of what would become Big Slick Celebrity Weekend, organizers had to account for lulls between the acts and action in the marquee event. David Koechner, the comedian-actor-writer-producer rooted in improv, typically was a stopgap.
Someone would hand him a microphone, he told The Star in 2019, and say, “Hey, Koechner, go stall for a while.”
Self-deprecating as ever, Koechner reckoned his true value in that nimble service was “just my volume, really, not what I had to say.”
That notion mirrored a group figuring it out as it went — and ultimately solving it to spectacular effect.
From treading water to making it rain.
Entering its 15th edition this weekend, Big Slick has morphed from a locally driven celebrity poker tournament into a VIP extravaganza that has raised more than $20 million — including a record $3.5 million last year — for Children’s Mercy hospital.
And those lulls have long since given way to never-ending entertainment: More than 50 stars will join the core of KC-connected hosts Koechner, Heidi Gardner, Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis and Eric Stonestreet. Among them are four current “Saturday Night Live” castmates of Gardner and musicians Sheryl Crow and Kansas City’s own Tech N9ne.
Speaking with The Star on Wednesday outside the T-Mobile Center, where the Big Slick Party & Show will be held on Saturday night, Koechner decided it’s time to simply declare Big Slick “the greatest charity in the country” and choked up as he spoke about what it’s come to mean to him.
“It’s wonderful to see,” he said, pausing to clear his voice and compose himself, “to be able to be there to touch someone’s heart.”
As he pondered the ways it’s grown since the early days, Koechner thought about how the celebrity softball game used to be played on the “Little K” at Kauffman Stadium before graduating to, well, the big kids’ field.
“‘Can we touch this grass?’” he said, laughing. “‘Is that OK?’”
When it comes to why the cause moves him so, he thought about how virtually everyone in Kansas City is touched by Children’s Mercy. And that the real work is done year-round by the co-host’s parents and siblings (like sister Joan, one of his three in the area).
And that the regional generosity and interest is testimony to Kansas City itself.
“Obviously, everybody in Kansas City knows about it,” he said. “And I think they feel like they have some ownership of it, which is just beautiful.”
From a distance, the former “Anchorman” co-star might seem an improbable anchor of what’s become an institution. Koechner grew up in Tipton, Missouri, some two hours from Kansas City near Jefferson City, and now lives in Los Angeles.
But he’s felt connected to Kansas City for about forever, including getting married at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to an Overland Park native. He and his wife, Leigh, divorced in 2020.
His initial engagement with Kansas City started with a deep allegiance to the Chiefs that began at Christmas 1971 with their double-overtime playoff loss to Miami. In our 2019 chat, Koechner seemed to have reconciled the defeat by arbitrarily claiming the Dolphins cheated in some unspecified way.
As it has for so many, that longtime anguished devotion has been rewarded infinitely over the last five seasons as the Chiefs have won three of four Super Bowls they’ve appeared in.
And Koechner, who immersed himself in improvisational comedy at the Second City and ImprovOlympic in Chicago, suddenly might have more of a sense of a bond with Patrick Mahomes than he had even considered before.
Asked about his sense of the ever-creative Mahomes and improv, a notion Henry Winkler once expanded upon to The Star’s Pete Grathoff, Koechner said, “I never put those together before. That’s very good.”
Improvisation, he added, “is where you just make it up. And that’s what Pat does on the field, doesn’t he? It’s incredible.”
As with Mahomes, imagination might be vital. But also as with Mahomes, it’s all been fueled by diligence and the execution that can only come with honoring the work.
Sure, he joked, there are “a lot of pretty faces like mine.”
But it’s ultimately all about the “craftwork” he acquired by being relentless in a dream that began when he was about 13 years old.
No doubt that became refined and extended by working with some of the best comedic minds of his generation — including Steve Carell, Will Ferrell and Tina Fey.
And Del Close, the “guru” of improvisation.
And on the “SNL” cast and with some of his Big Slick cohorts.
And too many more to mention.
“We all made each other better, probably,” he said.
Now 61 years old, Koechner still relishes what he’s doing. You could even say he’s still driven.
“What’s driving me? Five kids,” he said, smiling. “Driving me. Crazy.”
More seriously, he calls himself fortunate to still do what he does. Right now, that includes a lot of standup comedy around the country, a podcast and ongoing movie and TV work.
His plate is so full, he said, “I guess I’ve got to get a bigger plate.”
But you can count on Big Slick, and Kansas City, remaining a staple. It’s a place he’s proud to bring friends and colleagues.
Or as he put it in terms of this weekend, “we basically kidnap you for three days” to take part in all events starting with visiting the hospital.
“It’s about camaraderie; it’s about Kansas City getting (buzz),” said Koechner, who missed the first Big Slick event in 2010 because of a family wedding. (He was then a celebrity guest for some years and became a co-host in 2014.) “Because if you’ve not been to Kansas City before, and a lot of our friends hadn’t, they go away just remarking on how incredible the town is, (how) beautiful and how wonderful the people are. And they have the time of their lives.”
He later added, “Everyone walks away with a full heart and … (knowing) that they’ve made a difference.”
None more than those who’ve been part of it since the early years.
Big Slick events
▪ The Big Slick Celebrity Softball Game will be played on the main field at Kauffman Stadium at 5 p.m. Friday before the Royals play the San Diego Padres. Everyone with a Royals ticket can watch the softball game.
▪ The Big Slick Party & Show, 8 p.m. Saturday at the T-Mobile Center. That includes comedians, musical performances and an auction for big-ticket prizes. Tickets starting at $75 are available at at BigSlickKC.org or T-MobileCenter.com.
Uniquely KC is a Star series exploring what makes Kansas City special. From our award-winning barbecue to rich Midwestern history, we’re exploring why KC is the “Paris of the Plains.”
