Comic Relief

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For the origin of the term, see comic relief.
Comic Relief logo
Comic Relief logo

Comic Relief is a British charity organisation that was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis in response to famine in Ethiopia. It was launched live on Noel Edmonds's Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1, on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan. The idea for Comic Relief came from the noted charity worker Jane Tewson, who became head of a British NGO Charity Projects and was inspired by the success of the first four Secret Policeman's Ball comedy benefit shows for Amnesty International (1976-1981). Initially funds were raised from live events and the best known is a comedy revue at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London which was finally broadcast on television on the 25 April, 1986.

One of the fundamental principles behind working at Comic Relief is the 'Golden Pound Principle' where every single donated pound is spent on charitable projects. All operating costs, such as staff salaries, are covered by corporate sponsors or interest which is earned while money raised is waiting to be spent (granted) to charitable projects.

Currently, its two main supporters are the BBC and Sainsbury's. The BBC is responsible for the live television extravaganza on Red Nose Day and Sainsbury's sells merchandise on behalf of the charity.

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. It is held in the spring every second year and is often treated as a semi-holiday, with, for example, schools having non-uniform days. The day culminates in a live telethon event on BBC One starting in the evening and going through into the early hours of the morning, but other money-raising events take place. As the name suggests, the day involves the wearing of plastic/foam red noses which are available, in exchange for a donation, from many shops.

The first "Red Nose Day" was on 5 February, 1988, and raised £15 million. The TV show was hosted by Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones and Jonathan Ross. More than £300 million has so far been distributed to projects by Comic Relief.

Red Nose Day was also copied in other countries. One of note was New Zealand, which actually introduced a brief fad in 1990 of selling over-sized red-noses for car grilles for charity.

Call Centres

Comic Relief rely on several hundred call centres around the United Kingdom to process calls from the public. The call centres are connected through the BT network and each centre has a certain number of fixed lines, all running off the main 0845 number. The centres, which are owned by various companies, provide support in the form of volunteers who usually work there.

On television

The television programming begins in the afternoon, with CBBC having various related reports, money-raising events and a celebrity gungeing. This is all in-between the regular programmes, but after the six o'clock news, the normal BBC One schedule is suspended at 7pm in favour of a live show, with a break at 10 O'Clock for the News. While the News is on BBC One, Comic Relief continues on BBC Two and then resumes on BBC One at 10:35pm with each hour overseen by a different celebrity team. These celebrities do the work for free, as do the crew, with studio space and production facilities donated by the BBC.

Regular themes throughout the shows include parodies of recent popular shows, films and events and specially-filmed versions of comedy shows. Smith & Jones and a parody sketch starring Rowan Atkinson are both regularly featured – the first being Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988).

1999 event

The 1999 "Red Nose Day" was held on March 12, 1999. A parody of the Doctor Who series, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, starring Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, was featured during the show.

2001 event

The 2001 "Red Nose Day" was held on March 16, 2001. In 2001 the total raised on Red Nose Day was £61,000,140. As well as donations on the night of the TV show money is raised from countrywide sponsored events and from merchandising, particularly of the red noses themselves. In 2001 5.8 million red noses were sold, approximately one each for 10% of the UK population.

Jack Dee won Celebrity Big Brother. This is the only day on record nobody committed suicide in the UK between 1993 and 2002.[1]

2003 event

The 2003 "Red Nose Day" was held on March 14, 2003. The fund raising activities included Lenny Henry providing the voice of the speaking clock between March 10 and March 23 with the cost of the call going to Comic Relief. On the night of the live show itself, £35m was raised, an on-the-night record. A total of £61,477,539 was raised that year, setting a new record.

Jack Dee stood outside at the top of a pole for the duration of the show, parodying the acts of David Blaine. Celebrity Driving School led up to the event, with the test results announced during the telethon: they all failed.

The hosts of "Red Nose Day" 2003 were:

Shows included

As usual a variety of specially-filmed versions of television shows were made. Popular BBC talent show Fame Academy returned as Comic Relief does Fame Academy. Other shows included:

Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan a parody of Harry Potter starring Dawn French as Harry Potter, Jennifer Saunders as Ron Weasley and Miranda Richardson as Hermione Granger.

2005 event

The 2005 Red Nose Day was held on March 11 and was hosted by a collection of television stars:

The 2005 event was also noteworthy for supporting the Make Poverty History campaign - many of the videos recorded for the MPH campaign (including videos by Bono and Nelson Mandela) were shown throughout the evening. Over £63m was raised as of November 2005.

Shows included

As usual a variety of specially-filmed versions of television shows were made. Popular BBC talent show Comic Relief does Fame Academy was attended by celebrities singing cover versions of songs. Viewers voted for their favourite, with the proceeds going to the cause and the celebrity. Other shows included:

Mcfly also recorded the Comic Relief single "All About You" for 2005 and raised it all for Comic Relief.

Donation progress

Times approximate and amounts rounded to the nearest million where not stated exactly:

  • 7:30pm - £2 million
  • 8:30pm - £7 million
  • 9:30pm - £18 million
  • 10pm - £22 million
  • 11:30pm - £30,503,394
  • 12:45am - £35,325,862
  • 02:00am - £37,809,564

Raised by March 2006: £65m

2007 event

Main article: Red Nose Day 2007

2007's Red Nose Day was held on March 16 2007. Its tagline is "The Big One" which is also representative of the novelty nose. As well as Sainsburys; Walkers, Kleenex and Andrex are promoting the charity. Some of the sketches shown were: The Vicar of Dibley.[2] Also intended to be shown was A Question of Comedy, a comedy quiz utilizing the format (and set) of A Question of Sport, and hosted by Jack Dee, with team captains Frank Skinner, Dara O'Briain,[3]and Mr. Bean and guests including Jade Goody. However, in light of Big Brother events involving Jade and racism, the pre-recorded segment has been scrapped by BBC producers.[4][5]

In the lead up to Red Nose Day many different fund raising events occurred:

  • Beginning Friday 9 March 2007, The Radio 1 breakfast team staged a tour around the UK entitled The Chris Moyles Rallyoke. The tour involved seven Karaoke nights held in a well known UK location featuring members of the public and well known celebrities and music artists. Most Radio 1 shows report on their progress and hold competitions to win tickets to be at the final on Red Nose Day and also to win the contents of a truck donated by various celebrities. As well as raising money at each event the profit of the phone in competitions go to Comic Relief making a total of £600,000[6]
  • The last episode of the Vicar of Dibley was aired in the show; all the usual actors and actresses were in it. It featured Sting, in which he is taking part with a celebrity and non-entity television show, swapping wives with the vicar's husband Harry.
  • There was also a live show from The Mighty Boosh. By 16th November 2007, a record-breaking £67,250,099 had been raised.

Donation progress

Times approximate:

  • 7.25pm - £2,256,037
  • 8.19pm - £7,430,542 (£2,000,136 raised by TK Maxx selling Red Nose Day t-shirts in store)
  • 9.09pm - £15,139,826 (£1,001,219 raised by Walkers WalkEars)
  • 9.48pm - £22,148,068 (£7,008,242 raised by Sainsbury's)
  • 9.54pm - £26,820,554
  • 11.30pm - £27,420,554 (£600,000 raised by BBC Radio 1)
  • 11.31pm - £27,771,803 (£351,249 raised by Müller)
  • 11.52pm - £34,269,843
  • 12.39am - £34,346,177 (£76,334 from Andrex)
  • 01.35am - £38,157,240
  • 03.03am - £40,236,142

Merchandise

Various items of merchandise have been sold to promote and raise money for Comic Relief. In 1991, The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic was published by Fleetway. Conceived, plotted and edited by Neil Gaiman, Richard Curtis, Grant Morrison and Peter K. Hogan, it featured contributions from a vast array of British comics talent including Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, Dave Gibbons, Mark Millar, Simon Bisley, Mark Buckingham, Steve Dillon, D'Israeli, Jamie Hewlett and Bryan Talbot (arguably Britain's most famous comics writer, Alan Moore, was not credited as working on the book having sworn never to work for Fleetway again, but was said[7] to have worked with partner Melinda Gebbie on her pages). The comic was unique in that it featured appearances by characters from across the spectrum of comics publishers, including Marvel and DC superheroes, Beano, Dandy, Eagle and Viz characters, Doctor Who, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in addition to a cavalcade of British comedy figures (both real and fictional). These were all linked by the twin framing narratives of the Comic Relief night itself, and the tale of "Britain's meanest man" Sir Edmund Blackadder being persuaded to donate money to the event. The comic "sold out in minutes", raising over £40,000 for the charity, and is now a highly prized collectors' item.

In 1993, a computer platform game was released called Sleepwalker. The game featured voice overs from Lenny Henry and Harry Enfield and several other references to Comic Relief and tomatoes; the theme for the 1993 campaign.

In 2007 Walkers complemented the usual merchandise by adding their own take on the red nose promoting red ears instead. The large ears, dubbed 'Walk-ears' are based on a very old joke involving the actual ears of ex-footballer Gary Lineker who has fronted their ad campaign since the early 1990s. Walkers previously promoted the charity in 2005 making four limited edition unusual crisp flavours.

The 2007 game for Red Nose Day can be played here www.rednoseday.com/letitflow . This game has been developed by worldwide viral marketeers - Matmi. The game is called “Let it Flow” and it’s set in the African wilderness. Mischievous hyenas have messed up the water irrigation system that feeds the crops. Using your brain you have to help re-arrange the pipes to let the water flow to the crops to keep them alive. Once the pipes are arranged, you need to operate the elephant’s trunk to pump the water through the water pipes.

For the 2007 campaign Andrex, known for their ad campaign fronted by a Labrador puppy, are giving away toy puppies with red noses.

The Red Nose

The most prominent symbol of Comic Relief is a rubber/foam red nose which is given in various supermarkets in exchange for a donation to the charity. People are encouraged to wear the noses on Red Nose Day to help raise awareness of the charity. The design of the nose has been changed each year, beginning with a fairly plain one, which later grew arms, turned into a tomato and even changed colour. In 2007, the red nose was made of foam; this was to facilitate the "growing" of the nose (by rolling it in the user's hands) to keep in line with that year's tagline, The Big One. See the table below. Larger noses are also available and are designed to be attached to the fronts of cars and even buildings. However, the nose's material used was classed as a fire hazard and were banned from the Comic Relief Does Fame Academy shows.

Chronology of noses

Year Type of nose
1988 The Plain Red Nose
1989 The Smiley Face - with face (known as Harry), made with rose scented plastic
1991 The Stonker Nose - with hands and face
1993 The Tomato Nose - with stalk and face
1995 The Colour Change Nose - changed either yellow or pink with 'MY NOSE' on
1997 The Furry Nose - clear plastic shell covered in red fur
1999 The Big Red Hooter - faceless, gold glitter and when squeezed it 'hoots'
2001 The Whoopee Nose - red head with inflated cheeks, when squeezed the tongue inflates
2003 The Big Hair Do - with gooey eyes that squeeze out and a tuft of red hairs came with gel for the hair
2005 Big Hair & Beyond - with smiley face (known as Chad) and colourful elastic hair came with red and yellow face paint and stickers for the nose
2007 The Big One (The Nose That Grows) - Made of foam which makes it more comfortable; comes with Chocpix and stickers to decorate the nose with.

Comic Relief charity singles

In April 1986 the first Comic Relief charity single was released. It featured Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones in a rendition of "Living Doll".

Some of the money raised from the sale of each single is donated to Comic Relief. Normally a song is released just before the official Red Nose Day. There have been exceptions, such as "(I want to be) Elected" which was released to coincide with the 1992 UK general election. Before 1995's song, they were all more-or-less comedy records, mostly involving an actual band or singer and a comedy group. From 1995 on they have been generally more serious, although the videos still feature comical moments.

Release Date Title Artists Highest chart position reached
April 1986 "Living Doll" Cliff Richard and the cast of The Young Ones No. 1
December 1987 "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" Mel & Kim (Mel Smith and Kim Wilde) No. 3
February 1989 "Help!" Bananarama & Lanananeeneenoonoo (French and Saunders with Kathy Burke) No. 3
March 1991 "The Stonk" Hale and Pace (backing band includes David Gilmour and Brian May) No. 1
April 1992 "(I Want to Be) Elected" Smear Campaign (Bruce Dickinson, Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton) No. 9
February 1993 "Stick It Out" Right Said Fred and friends No. 4
May 1994 "Absolutely Fabulous" Absolutely Fabulous (Pet Shop Boys, Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley) No. 6
March 1995 "Love Can Build a Bridge" Cher, Chrissie Hynde, Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton No. 1
3 March 1997 "Mama/Who Do You Think You Are" The Spice Girls No. 1
March 1999 "When the Going Gets Tough" Boyzone No. 1
March 2001 "Uptown Girl" Westlife No. 1
March 2003 "Spirit in the Sky" Gareth Gates and the Kumars No. 1
7 March 2005 "All About You/You've Got a Friend" McFly No. 1
14 March 2005 "Is This the Way to Amarillo" Template:Fn Tony Christie & Peter Kay No. 1
12 March 2007 "Walk This Way" Girls Aloud vs. Sugababes No. 1
19 March 2007 "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" Template:Fn The Proclaimers & Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin Template:Fn No. 1
  • Template:Fnb "Is This the Way to Amarillo", though released expressly with the intent of proceeds going to Comic Relief, was not an official Comic Relief single. The song was originally performed by Peter Kay (lipsynching to Tony Christie's voice) during the evening, and was later released as a single. It was the number one single for seven weeks, and in its first week it outsold the rest of the top 20 combined.
  • Template:Fnb In 2007, a version of The Proclaimers song "500 Miles" released on March 19, featured Peter Kay and Matt Lucas as their wheelchair-user characters Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin. Before its official release the song reached number 3 based on downloads alone. The single reached number one on March 25, knocking official Comic Relief single "Walk This Way" off the top spot.

In addition, the first Red Nose Day Schools' song ('Make Someone Happy') was published in 2007. A CD of the song together with backing tracks and fundraising ideas was sent free of charge to all primary schools in the UK in February by the education music publisher 'Out of the Ark Music'. Schools will be free to use the song in assemblies, singathons or other fundraising activities

Criticism

On 5 October, 2004, the Burma Campaign UK criticised Comic Relief for its association with the multinational DHL, a partner of Myanmar Post and Telecom. John Jackson, head of Burma Campaign UK, noted that they were aiding war victims in Rwanda while funding the military regime in Myanmar.

In March 2005, several Catholic schools in the UK were banned from supporting Red Nose Day by church leaders because of claims that money raised would fund abortions in Africa. Reports of this were denied by other church leaders.

Some have questioned whether the celebrities who appear donate themselves, arguing that many benefit financially from the exposure these charitable shows give. The counter argument to this point is that without the talents of the performers the show would lose its unique appeal. It's something of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

On 18 July, 2007, it was discovered the Comic Relief breached editorial standards. During Red Nose Day 2007, viewers were told that by phoning in and donating, they would enter a prize draw. According to reports, "The first two callers taken on air gave incorrect answers. The other waiting callers were lost and a third caller was heard on air successfully answering the question. This caller was in fact not a viewer but a member of the production team."[8] However, this was something beyond the charity's control and was a decision made by the BBC and its production team on the night.

Similar events outside the United Kingdom

In the United States

Inspired by the British charity, a United States Comic Relief charity was founded in 1986 by Bob Zmuda.

Comic Relief is an irregularly held event, televised on HBO, that has raised and distributed nearly $50 million toward providing health care services to homeless men, women, and children throughout the United States. Comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg are hosts of the event.

The 1989 HBO Comic Relief show debuted the song, "Mr. President," written by Joe Sterling, Ray Reach and Mike Loveless. The song was sung by Al Jarreau and Natalie Cole.

On November 18 2006 the event was revived as a fundraiser for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and was simulcast on TBS.[9]

Richard Curtis also created the Idol Gives Back special for American Idol, which follows the same basic premise as Comic Relief, with specially filmed shorts, performances and footage of the stars of the show visiting empoverished countries.

In Australia

In 1988, the Red Nose Day concept was adopted by the SIDS and Kids organisation to help raise funds for research into sudden infant death syndrome. Since then, Red Nose Day in Australia is held annually on the last Friday of June.[10]

An Australian version of Comic Relief, Comic Relief Australia, has also been set up. ([1]). It plans to divide the money raised between Australian causes (at least 40%) and overseas charities largely in Asia Pacific (at least 40%) [citation needed]

Following a campaign encouraging people to buy articles such as red wristbands, the first telethon-style event was held on November 6 2005 on the Seven Network. It followed the established format, with comedy interspersed with examples of the sorts of charities to benefit. According to its website, this raised over AUS $800,000. Another telethon was broadcast on November 27 2006 on Seven Network. The 2006 Comic Relief Show was held under the title '50 Years of Laughs' celebrating 50 years of Television in Australia. It was hosted by Colin Lane and featured presenters such as Amanda Keller, Mikey Robbins, Ugly Dave Grey and Derryn Hinch interviewing Kylie Mole.

In Germany

The German TV station Pro 7 initiated a similar event in 2003. By selling red noses money is collected for the charity foundations PowerChild, Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (lit., German Child and Youth Foundation), and Comic Relief. The event is called 'Red Nose Day' and took place annually in March or April from 2003 to 2006. However ratings and the collected donations fell way short of expectations in 2006. The Red Nose Day Germany 2007 is confirmed to take place on the 22nd of December at PRO7.

In Russia

A similar charity campaign, entitled "Red Nose, Kind Heart", was launched in Russia on April 1, 2007. The main goal of the drive, held between April 1 and May 19, 2007 by the Liniya Zhizni (Life Line) foundation, is raising money to help children afflicted with serious diseases (such as heart diseases).

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ "100 things we didn't know this time last year". 2005-12-30. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)Citation from numbers 76 and 77
  2. ^ "Vicar of Dibley to be resurrected". BBC News. 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "A Question of Comedy". JackDee.com. 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Can anyone save Jade?". www.dailymail.co.uk. 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-02-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Jade Goody axed from Comic Relief". 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "The Chris Moyles Rallyoke". BBC. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  7. ^ Neil Gaiman - Comics FAQ
  8. ^ BBC to suspend phone competitions Written on 18 July, 2007. Accessed on 18 July, 2007.
  9. ^ "'Comic Relief' Returns to HBO". zap2it.com. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2007-02-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Australian Red Nose Day Homepage". Retrieved 2007-02-02.

External links

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