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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.

Since the Charity has started in the 1980s, Comic Relief has raised over £600 million.

Red Nose Day history

Red Nose Day is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. It is held in the spring every 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.

Theme

Needing a distinct brand for the idea of a comic event raising money, the cast of The Young Ones were in a meeting in London with marketing executive Peter Crossing and founder Jane Tewson. The problem of the brand was raised, to which after some thinking Crossing picked up a red marker pen and drew a red nose around his own nose, much like a clown.[1]

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 £500 million has so far been distributed to projects by Comic Relief. This year (2009) will see the twelfth Red Nose Day celebrated in the UK.

Red Nose Day was also copied in other countries. One of note was New Zealand, which raised funds for research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Call Centres

Comic Relief relies 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 0345 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 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 12 March 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 16 March 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 tenth of the UK population.

2003 event

The 2003 "Red Nose Day" was held on 14 March 2003. The fund raising activities included Lenny Henry providing the voice of the speaking clock between 10 March and 23 March 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 11 March 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 released the official single, a double A side of "All About You/You've Got a Friend" which reached #1 in the UK singles chart, and also #1 in the Irish singles chart. The cover is predominantly red and features the members of McFly dressed in red, wearing red noses, in honour of Red Nose Day.

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 16 March 2007. Its tagline is "The Big One" which is also representative of the novelty nose. As well as Sainsburys; Walkers, Kleenex and Andrex promoted 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 Ó Briain,[3] and Mr. Bean and guests including Jade Goody. However, in light of the Celebrity Big Brother racism controversy involving Goody, the pre-recorded segment was 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 BBC 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]
  • Fund raising merchandise sold during the 2007 campaign included the Big One (Red Nose) itself, 'Walkears' an Andrex Puppy with a red nose, a special Little Britain Live DVD and the official single which was a cover of Aerosmith's 'Walk This Way' sung by Girls Aloud and Sugababes.
  • 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.

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
  • By 16 November 2007, a record-breaking £67,250,099.

2009 event

Main article: Red Nose Day 2009


Donation progress

Times approximate:

  • 7.50pm - £3,017,772
  • 8:29pm - £13,667,550 (£3.5m raised by the celebrity climb)
  • 9:34pm - £29,748,187 (£9m raised by Sainsbury's, the largest single donation in Comic Relief history)
  • 9:57pm - £32,802,411

Presenters

Time Presenters
19.00-20.30 David Tennant and Davina McCall [7]
20.30-22.00 Jonathan Ross and Claudia Winkleman
22.00-22.30
(BBC Two) 		Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates
22.30-00.00 Fern Britton and Alan Carr
00.00-01.00 Graham Norton
01.00-03.00 James Corden and Mathew Horne

Ratings

# Air date Total viewing BBC One weekly rank
1999 12 March 6,830,000 20th
2001 16 March 8,510,000 8th
2003 14 March 11,740,000 4th
2005 11 March 10,940,000 4th
2007 16 March 9,730,000 2nd
2009 13 March
BARB

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[11] 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. Comic Relief have also sold Fairtrade Cotton Socks from a number of vendors. This is mainly for their Sport Relief charity.

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, “Let it Flow”, could be played here: www.rednoseday.com/letitflow. This game was developed by worldwide viral marketeers - Matmi - and set in the African wilderness. Mischievous hyenas had messed up the water irrigation system that fed the crops. Using your brain you had to help re-arrange the pipes to let the water flow to the crops to keep them alive. Once the pipes were arranged, you needed 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, give 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, buildings and in 2009 a 6 metre diameter inflatable nose was attached to the DFDS Seaways m.s King of Scandinavia Cruise Ferry. However, the nose's material used for buildings was classed as a fire hazard and was banned from the Comic Relief Does Fame Academy shows.

Chronology of noses

As of 2009 there have been 14 different Red noses over 12 Comic Relief shows. (Three noses were used for 2009).

Year Name Type of nose
1988 The Red Nose Plain red
1989 My Nose Has a face, made with rose scented plastic
1991 Hands Nose Has hands and a face
1993 Tomato Nose Has a stalk and a face
1995 The Heat Sensitive Nose Changed either yellow or pink with 'MY NOSE' on
1997 Shaggy Nose Clear plastic shell covered in red fur
1999 The Big Red Hooter Faceless, gold glitter and when squeezed it 'hoots'
2001 Whoopee Nose Red head with inflated cheeks, when squeezed the tongue inflates
2003 Hairy Nose With gooey eyes that squeeze out and a tuft of red hairs came with gel for the hair
2005 Big Hair & Beyond (Chad) Has a smiley face and colourful elastic hair came with red and yellow face paint and stickers for the nose
2007 The Big One Faceless, made of foam which makes it more comfortable; comes with Chocpix and stickers to decorate the nose with.
2009 This One This year you can pick one of three noses. Nose 1 has big smile with mouth open.
2009 That One This year you can pick one of three noses. Nose 2 has glasses on, and a smile with the teeth closed.
2009 The Other One This year you can pick one of three noses. Nose 3 has a shocked look.

All three come with 6 stickers depicting each of the noses, the RnD09 logo and tag-line "Do something funny for money" and a sticker to introduce your nose by name. A small book of nose related jokes is also included.

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.

2003 saw a return to the format of old. From 2005 onwards, two comic relief songs have been released each red nose day, a song by a mainstream artist, and a comedy song.

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 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" 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" Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud No. 1
19 March 2007 "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" Template:Fn The Proclaimers & Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin Template:Fn No. 1
2 March 2009 "Just Can't Get Enough" The Saturdays No. 2
8 March 2009 "Islands in the Stream" Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon featuring Tom Jones and Robin Gibb Template:Fn [12] TBC
  • 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 19 March, 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 25 March, knocking official Comic Relief single "Walk This Way" off the top spot.
  • Template:Fnb In 2009, the comedy release will take prominence over the single release by a mainstream recording artist. Gavin and Stacey's Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon have covered "Islands in the Stream" for the event with this being released on the week of Comic Relief. The Saturdays will release their record a week earlier.

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. A second Red Nose Day Song has been released for every school in the UK to use free of charge. It can be downloaded from the Red Nose Day 09 website, or watched on YouTube and a copy is being sent to every primary school in the UK. It has again been published by Out of the Ark music, and contains a more upbeat melody than the 2007 song. It was recorded at Hook Studios, Hook, Surrey by the Out of the Ark Choir, which is completely made up of children. The children in the video wear Stella Mccarteny's special edition Comic Relief T-Shirts, and has been filmed in black and white so only the red stands out.

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 18 November 2006 the event was revived as a fundraiser for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and was simulcast on TBS.[13]

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 impoverished 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.[14]

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 6 November 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 27 November 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, resulting in no main show being produced in 2007 and 2008.

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).

In Finland

In 2002 the national broadcaster YLE started annual charity event, which initially went under title "Ylen hyvä". In 2007, the event adopted name "Nenäpäivä" (Nose day) and the use of red noses to more closely follow the example of the British event.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ Comic Relief: The Fool's Guide - Interview section with Jane Tewson. BBC1, February 3, 2009
  2. ^ "Vicar of Dibley to be resurrected". BBC News. 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  3. ^ "A Question of Comedy". JackDee.com. 2007-01-01. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  4. ^ "Can anyone save Jade?". www.dailymail.co.uk. 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  5. ^ "Jade Goody axed from Comic Relief". 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  6. ^ "The Chris Moyles Rallyoke". BBC. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  7. ^ "Doctor Who - News". BBC. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  8. ^ "The BT Red Nose Climb | Red Nose Day 09". Rednoseday.com. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  9. ^ "Celebrities set to climb Kilimanjaro as Comic Relief is summit special | The Sun |Showbiz|Bizarre". The Sun. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
  10. ^ "Mr. Funny book for Comic Relief".
  11. ^ Neil Gaiman - Comics FAQ
  12. ^ "Tom Jones and Rob Brydon Record Comic Relief Single". gigwise.com. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
  13. ^ "'Comic Relief' Returns to HBO". zap2it.com. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  14. ^ "Australian Red Nose Day Homepage". Retrieved 2007-02-02.
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