Jimmy Kimmel Urges Fans to Donate to Tsunami Relief

By Sarah Crow Posted Mar 14th 2011 03:05PM

Behind Jimmy Kimmel's funny facade is a diabolical man. The laughter and joy he brings into the living rooms of countless individuals is just a cover-up for his dark secret: Jimmy Kimmel wills tsunamis into existence with his mind (or so he thinks).

In a new original piece for The Huffington Post titled 'A Dramatic Story, at the End of Which Nothing Happens,' the late-night funnyman discusses the day when his recurring tsunami nightmare became a reality.

Kimmel describes, "The dream goes like this. I am outside. Without warning, the tide starts to go out. As the water is sucked away, I know what is happening. The sea pulls back, loading up. For a moment, it disappears. Then a wall of water a thousand feet high towers over me. It is too big to run from. All I can do is watch, frozen by fear. And then I wake up. It's scary."

The 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' host, who was vacationing in Bora Bora with girlfriend Molly McNearney when they news of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami broke, describes how his magical thinking kept the wave from nearing his island destination, at least at first:

"I knew we'd be fine because I operate under the (logical) presumption that tsunamis never strike while one is talking about them or even soon after. So, to keep us safe, from the moment we touched down in Tahiti, I talked about tsunamis non-stop. At least 25 times over five days (ask Molly, she counted). At 5:00 pm on Thursday March 10, Molly and I were caught in a sudden rain shower."

Unfortunately for Kimmel, what started as a light rain turned into the forced evacuation of his hotel in preparation for the upcoming storm. "The plan was to get us to higher ground. We were told we'd take a short ride to the 'big' island (only 19 miles around), hike to the top of a hill, and wait it out. The blue sky and water were now pitch black. Our boat started and began to move. Then it stopped. Then it started again. And stopped. The boat started and stopped no less than fifteen times... Molly was scared. I comforted her by not vomiting."

When the group finally arrived at their above-sea-level destination, they waited out the storm, which almost completely bypassed the island, save for a "a ripple roughly the size of a peanut M&M."

In addition to learning that despite his many godlike attributes, he is not actually Poseidon, Kimmel came to realize that the greatest thing he can do is not to stop dreaming, but to help the individuals who are living through this natural disaster.

"We were and are very lucky, almost shamefully so," he writes. "Going forward, I will try hard to remember that. The minor scare I experienced gave me a glimpse of the intense horror Japan is still experiencing. Help them if you can. Give to the American Red Cross here and send your good wishes and prayers Japan's way. Sincerest thanks those who sent their wishes and prayers my way and to my daughter Katie, who gave news of our safe return a 'like' on Facebook."

Tags: jimmy kimmel

Comments

(7)

Monday 14 March

By Emmaline

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Jimmy Kimmel: Your heart is in the right place, but that's about all. The Japanese economy is light-years better than our American economy is right now. Not to mention, what about all that American money being sent to Japan for their automobiles? Japan can use their OWN money to rebuild their country. If the same thing happened in the USA, do you think the Japanese would be having donation telethons for America? They have suffered extreme devastation but they have the economy to fix it.

By Kate S.

Right on the mark,Emmaline.

By cazsue

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The Japanese helped the US after Katrina, let's be equally as kind, instead of selfish and greedy.

Yeah, Jimmy Kimmel, the best late night host! By far the best interviewer.

By egl1637

Jimmy K is a clown. We got our Military there on our dime and the clown want's more? The guy is stupid and just making noise to get his silly face in the media hype.

By stu

ABC pays jimmy enough to give on behalf of AMERICA.

By coldsudz

EAT it Kimmel. Give to the people in the US first and what ever is left over we give to other countires in need. No other country gives a sh#t about us here in America, so, I say give here where the people need it and not thru the TV or radio. Go to the place of need in person and ask them how your donation will be spent in writing.
Pecae
CZ

Tuesday 15 March

By bobby

Yeah three weeks a go New Zealand had a major Earth quake.Not once did I hear any Media, our so called President ,movie stars,sports figures ETC. cry out for help for this Country .Not even a fraction of what the sympathetic out cry for Haiti and now Japan .I wouldn't and will never donate again .Its funny how our President and the Media pick and chooses who give help to. A black poor hut country in Haiti and a rich country that we owes millions to .Funny I guess New Zealand being all white and independant didn't matter to this hypocrite Country ....What a shame ....

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