TwentyWonder
| TwentyWonder | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Festivals in California |
| Location(s) | Los Angeles |
| Years active | 2010–2014 |
| Website | |
| www.twentywonder.org | |
TwentyWonder is an annual, one-night summer festival held in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park. Since 2011, TwentyWonder events have been hosted by the Los Angeles Derby Dolls at their venue, "The Doll Factory". Event lineups consist of several dozen local, alternative cultural attractions. Those attractions typically include women's roller derby, national and international music acts, science exhibits, makers, magicians, comedians, and circus performers.
TwentyWonder serves as a fundraiser and awareness event for the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles (DSALA). From 2010–2014, TwentyWonder events raised over $400,000 for DSALA. Each event integrates people with Down syndrome into its lineup. For example, the 2014 lineup included actress Jamie Brewer of American Horror Story and Australian pop band Rudely Interrupted. Each event also includes educational displays about Down syndrome (trisomy 21). A number of prominent entertainment industry personalities are listed as "Friends" of the TwentyWonder charity, including actor Bryan Cranston, songwriter Christina Perri, Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon and sitcom creator Chuck Lorre.
TwentyWonder was created by Jim Hodgson, current Director of DSALA. It began as a party called SuperBall that was first thrown in 1996 by Hodgson and his brother Joel Hodgson, creator of the popular television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. The invitation-only party grew into a quasi-annual event involving now-prominent members of the Los Angeles entertainment community. After Jim Hodgson’s son was born with Down syndrome, the event was made into a public fundraiser and renamed TwentyWonder.
The first event was held in March 2010 at the Veterans Center in Culver City, Los Angeles. It included a large lineup that featured Sarah Silverman, Grant-Lee Phillips, Cinematic Titanic, Harmonix, Funny or Die, etymologist Taylor Lura, theremin player Eban Schletter, Dave "Gruber" Allen, Jim Turner as Mr. Tremendous and Tim Biskup.
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