Comic Relief

**Comic Relief** is an operating British charity, and an independent sister organization of the United States-based Comic Relief Inc. Founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is **Red Nose Day**, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief.

A prominent biennial event in British popular culture, Comic Relief is one of the two high-profile telethon events held in the United Kingdom, the other being Children in Need, held annually in November. In the United States, Red Nose Day is an annualized event that has raised more than $95 million since 2015.

## Background

The idea for Comic Relief came from the charity worker Jane Tewson, who established it as the operating name of **Charity Projects**, a registered charity in England and Scotland.

On April 04, 1986 the inaugural live fund-raising show, "Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Live", was staged at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Kate Bush and Cliff Richard.

The charity states that its aim is to "bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, which we believe requires investing in work that addresses people's immediate needs as well as tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice".

Currently, its main supporters are the BBC, BT, Sainsbury's supermarket chain and British Airways. The BBC is responsible for the live television extravaganza on *Red Nose Day*; BT provides the telephony, and Sainsbury's sells merchandise on behalf of the charity.

## Red Nose Day History

**Red Nose Day** is the main way in which Comic Relief raises money. The first Red Nose Day (RND) was held on 5 February 1988, when it was launched as a National Day of Comedy.It was held again the following year and thereafter every other year since then. They have been held on the second or third Friday in March.

The concept was created by Wendy Crossman (née Robinson), the fundraising director of Comic Relief. Many schools have red-themed non-uniform days (i.e. the pupils have to wear something red as part of their non-uniform attire).

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.

## One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)

One Direction recorded a cover of Blondie's "*One Way or Another*" and The Undertones' "*Teenage Kicks*" titled One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)to help raise money for Comic Relief*.*During the music video One Direction are seen wearing Red Noses for **Red Nose Day** in some scenes. The money made from the song was donated to the charity.

One Direction filmed the music video for the song in New York City, London, Tokyo and Ghana. The single went to #1 in the United Kingdom. The music video has over 390 million hits on YouTube.

## External Links

* Official Website

* Official Twitter
* Official Facebook
* Official Instagram