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For the origin of the term, see comic relief.  Comic Relief is a British charity organisation which was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is an annual telethon held in March, alternating as Red Nose Day and Sport Relief day. Comic Relief is one of the two high profile telethon events held in Britain, the other being Children in Need held annually in November. Comic Relief 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 established it as the operating name of Charity Projects, a registered charity in England[1] and Scotland.[2] Comic Relief 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 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 public service broadcaster - the BBC, and the supermarket - 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 was started in the 1980s, Comic Relief has raised over £600 million.[citation needed]
[edit] Red Nose Day historyRed Nose Day is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. It is held in the spring every other year, and is often treated as a semi-holiday, with, for example, schools across the UK 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 Sainsbury's and Oxfam shops. [edit] On televisionThe 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 10pm for the regular news programme. Whilst the BBC News at Ten is on aired 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 and Jones, and a parody sketch starring Rowan Atkinson are both regularly featured – the first being Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988). [edit] 1997 eventThe 1997 "Red Nose Day" on march 14th event raised over £27m for charitable causes.[3] The Spice Girls song Who Do You Think You Are became the official Comic Relief single of this event, and sold 672,577 copies.[4] [edit] 1999 eventThe 1999 "Red Nose Day" was held on 12 March 1999 and raised over £35m.[5] 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, as was Wetty Hainthropp Investigates, a Victoria Wood parody of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. [edit] 2001 eventThe 2001 "Red Nose Day" was held on 16 March 2001. In 2001 the total raised was £61,000,140.[citation needed] 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,[citation needed] approximately one tenth of the UK population. [edit] 2003 eventThe 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.[citation needed] A total of £61,477,539 was raised that year, setting a new record.[citation needed] 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: [edit] Shows includedAs 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. [edit] 2005 eventThe 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.[citation needed] [edit] Shows includedAs 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:
2005's telethon more than any other severely overran,[citation needed] and many pre-filmed segments, including Harry Hill's TV Burp, Smith and Jones, and Lenny Henry as Condoleezza Rice, were cut short halfway through. The uncut versions have never been screened. McFly released the official single, a double A-side of "All About You/You've Got a Friend" which reached Number 1 in the UK singles chart, and also Number 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. [edit] Donation progressTimes approximate and amounts rounded to the nearest million where not stated exactly:[citation needed]
Raised by March 2006: £65m.[citation needed] [edit] 2007 eventMain 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 Sainsbury's - Walkers, Kleenex and Andrex also promoted the charity. Some of the sketches shown were: The Vicar of Dibley.[6] Also intended to be shown was A Question of Comedy, a comedy quiz utilising the format (and set) of A Question of Sport, and hosted by Jack Dee, with team captains Frank Skinner, Dara Ó Briain,[7] 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.[8][9] In the lead up to Red Nose Day many different fund raising events occurred:
[edit] Donation progressTimes approximate:[citation needed]
[edit] 2009 eventMain article: Red Nose Day 2009 The 2009 event took place on Friday 13 March 2009. Fundraisers had three different nose designs to choose from: "this one", "that one" and "the other one" - all with different facial expressions. The Saturdays provided the official single, a cover of 'Just Can't Get Enough'. A variety of events and promotions took place in the run up to the big day. Comic Relief's Chief Executive announced that the UK's landmarks were going red before the big day. Claudia Winkleman and Steve Jones presented a new Comic Relief show called Let's Dance for Comic Relief. A special limited edition Mr. Men book, Mr. Funny's Red Nose Day,[11] went on sale with £2 from the sale of each book going to Comic Relief. Between 3 February and 23 March 2009, Kimberley Walsh, Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow, Chris Moyles, and Fearne Cotton raised money by lending their voices to the BT Speaking Clock. Dialling 123 was one of the ways BT hopes to raise more than £300,000, as the company donated 10p for each call received from a BT landline.[12] The Red Nose Climb saw nine celebrities successfully scale the peak of Kilimanjaro at 19,330 feet (5,890 m) to reach the summit of Africa's highest mountain to raise money for Comic Relief.[13] On 27 February 2009, Gary Barlow, Ronan Keating, Chris Moyles, Ben Shephard, Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Denise Van Outen, Fearne Cotton, and Alesha Dixon set off to Tanzania to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro with project manager and guide Jeremy Gane of Charity Challenge. The Climb has already raised in excess of £3.3 million with over £1.8 million coming from the audience of Radio 1 (a record for the station). All nine celebrities reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on Saturday 7 March 2009. Cheryl Cole, Fearne Cotton, Denise Van Outen and Ben Shephard reached the summit first at sunrise. The following took place during the live broadcast on the night:
This was the first Comic Relief show to feature no input from Rowan Atkinson and no comedic material from Lenny Henry. [edit] Donation progressTimes approximate:[citation needed]
By 2 April 2009 – £65,699,850[citation needed] Also, by 2 July 2009 – £80 million had been raised [edit] PresentersTimes approximate:
[edit] TV ratings
[edit] MerchandiseVarious 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[15] 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[citation needed] 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 2001 J. K Rowling, wrote two books for comic relief based on her famous Harry Potter series, entitled "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the Ages". 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 which 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. [edit] The Red NoseThe most prominent symbol of Comic Relief is a plastic/foam "red nose", which is given in various supermarkets and charity shops such as Oxfam 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" cruiseferry. 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. [edit] Chronology of nosesAs of 2009 there have been 14 different Red noses over 12 Comic Relief shows. (Three noses were used for 2009).
[edit] Comic Relief charity singlesIn 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.
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 McCartney's special edition Comic Relief T-Shirts, and has been filmed in black and white so only the red stands out. [edit] Similar events outside the United Kingdom[edit] United StatesInspired 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 Home Box Office (HBO), which 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.[17] 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. [edit] AustraliaIn 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.[18] 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........ [edit] GermanyThe 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. [edit] RussiaA similar charity campaign, entitled "Red Nose, Kind Heart", was launched in Russia on 1 April 2007. The main goal of the drive, held between 1 April and 19 May 2007 by the Liniya Zhizni (Life Line) foundation, is raising money to help children afflicted with serious diseases (such as heart diseases). [edit] FinlandIn 2002, the Finnish 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. [edit] NorwayIn 2009, Norway is planning Red Nose Day for the first time, to go on air on the national network TV3. [edit] See also
[edit] References and notes
[edit] External links
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