David Koechner's Kansas City: Exclusive Interview Insights

David Koechner loves the Chiefs and loves the Royals, he loves barbecue and the Country Club Plaza and all things Kansas City, but the heart of Kansas City, the best part of the city, he says, is Children’s Mercy Hospital.

“You can’t meet a person in the Kansas City metropolitan area whose life has not been touched by Children’s Mercy Hospital. It’s such a beautiful place,” says Koechner, his voice breaking.

One of the five hosts of Big Slick—Kansas City’s highly celebrated charitable event—Koechner is best known for his roles as Champ Kind in the Anchorman films and as Todd Packer, the traveling salesperson from The Office. He currently plays Beau Bowman on ABC’s Bless this Mess.

A native of Tipton, a community of 3,300 located on Highway 50 between Sedalia and Jefferson City, Koechner is the third of six children. However, Koechner considers Kansas City his Midwest home.

Three of Koechner’s five siblings live here, making it his Los Angeles-based family’s favorite destination for Thanksgiving. When it comes to traditions, the Koechners participate in a multiday peanut brittle-making festival using a recipe that’s been passed down from his grandmother to now, the fourth generation of Koechner children.

That Thanksgiving weekend is also a big football weekend is another cause for coming home to KC. It’s common for Big Slick co-host Rob Riggle to be in town, and together the two have had the honor of pounding the Chief’s drum on Arrowhead Stadium’s Drum Deck. Starting in 2015, the Big Slick team has chosen a Chiefs home game for a tailgate party, a football-centric event that extends the fundraising capacity for the June Big Slick and Children’s Mercy Hospital.  

And while most of the public sees the celebrity softball game at Kauffman Stadium, the bowling, the karaoke and other silliness at Sprint Center, Koechner and the 30 or so celebrities who attend the Big Slick know what it is really all about.

“The kids don’t know who you are. It doesn’t matter,” he says. “The parents might know or the grandparents, but it doesn’t matter. In that moment, if we can provide some joy or release from their emotional pain and stress, then that’s our job.”

Koechner shares the Big Slick spotlight with Kansas City natives Paul Rudd, Rob Riggle, Jason Sudeikis and Eric Stonestreet, people he has known since their early days in show business (at 57 years old, Koechner is the oldest of the gang). In many ways, he believes an event like Big Slick could only happen in Kansas City.

Each actor is responsible for inviting a number of other actors to participate in Big Slick. Participants volunteer their time and receive no perks other than a flight and a hotel room. The only requirement is to be a celebrity of some note and to have a big heart.

“My favorite thing is to bring someone who has never been to Kansas City, who has never been to the Midwest, and let this city and these people do their magic,” says Koechner. “I tell them your heart is going to be touched, it is going to be opened, you are going to be different, and it happens. Everyone wants to come back the next year.”

Koechner doesn’t like the idea of “celebrities” or “star power.” He believes that the majority of people in Hollywood are just like the rest of the country and their impact on Big Slick and Kansas City is a result of “compassion power.”

“These people are givers,” he says. “We are blessed with wonderful friends with huge hearts who do love to give back.”