Celebrities and other well-heeled folks don’t usually deign to engage in such hoi-polloi amusements as Whac-a-Mole. But the snaking lines for games at a carnival put on by
Jay-Z to raise money for his
Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation on September 29, 2011 were easily explained: Among the rows of stuffed-tiger prizes, things like
Tory Burch bags poked out, along with gleaming
Gibson guitars and a basketball signed by
Magic Johnson.
Carnies, take note: Jay-Z is giving you a run for your money.
There were carnival rides including a Ferris wheel on
Pier 54 in the Hudson River Park, a Zipper, a Sizzler and in place of the usual zeppoles, fare from the
Spotted Pig and
Momofuku Milk Bar. There was entertainment supplied by
Smash Party Entertainment such as stilt walkers, fire jugglers, fortune tellers and dynamic double-dutch jump ropers, who had guests skipping along with them,
Louboutins-be-damned. Tickets were $1,000.
Even the insult-spewing jokester in the Dunk-a-Clown booth was more cordially met. He jumped from his dunk-tank perch to fawn over Beyoncé when it was her turn to soak him.
Two
Smash little people in ringmaster outfits wrangled stars like Jay-Z wife
Beyonce,
Alex Rodriguez,
Paula Zahn,
C. C. Sabathia and Ahmir (
Questlove) Thompson of the Roots on the red carpet. We asked
Russell Simmons what he might get as a gift for his host’s child. “God and love,” he said. Could you find a box big enough, Nocturnalist’s correspondent joked. “Never, because it’s God,” he said.
Jay-Z told us of his love of carnivals: he once rode the
Coney Island Cyclone 11 times in a row as a boy. “When I left there, I couldn’t turn my neck,” he said. “But it was worth it.”
What we really wanted to know was if his baby would take after his parents and eventually rule the world. “Don’t put that kind of pressure on it!” he said, before playfully addressing his unborn child. “Sorry, Junior, I already ruined you.”
Jay-Z's carnival-themed fundraiser raised $1000000 for kids' college scholarships.
