March 16, 2001

4:16 AM

Comic Reliefhits the UK yet again. This is a fundraising event based around comedy and comedians that attempts to take the worthiness out of charity by making the day entertaining. Generally it fails. However, highlights of the event this year (both on and off the web) include: A celebrity version of Big Brother. The pairing of Graham Norton and Sarah Ferguson. Hot Naked Robbie Williams doing The Fast Show's Ted and Ralph. And finally: Mo Morgan will donate £1 for every page impression he gets. Let's bankrupt the bastard.
posted by barbelith (11 comments total)

And don't forget the two Harry Potter textbooks "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" and "Quidditch Through the Ages". J.K. Rowling wrote them specifically for Red Nose Day and all proceeds from the books go to the charity.

Both my copies arrived yesterday and they're great. Fantastic Beasts is HILARIOUS due to the penned in comments by Ron and Harry - remember molesting your textbooks with a felt tip in HS?

They're small, short books but fun to have around if you go potty for Potter.
posted by bkdelong at 4:59 AM on March 16, 2001

Am suddenly slightly worried that we might actually bankrupt Mo.
posted by barbelith at 5:03 AM on March 16, 2001

I think it's OK - he's getting help from Firelive Studios. Worry not.
posted by Caffa at 5:21 AM on March 16, 2001

Don't worry about me - it's not actually my money. It's company money. My donation is a very separate issue.

Remember though, rather than just giving our money away, you can also donate your own: http://comicrelief.com/donate.

That is, after all, the whole idea.
posted by momorgan at 5:23 AM on March 16, 2001

Don't forget the Ali G interview with Thick'n'Thin, which, having seen a purported transcript (warning: spoiler), I can't believe they're actually going to show.
posted by holgate at 6:36 AM on March 16, 2001

Are Newman and Baddiel still around? God I loved that show.

"That's you, that is."
posted by gsh at 7:58 AM on March 16, 2001

Gsh, the Mary Whitehouse Experience is no more, alas. And the BBC seem to have forgotten it exists since they haven't repeated any of the old shows.

Newman and Baddiel are still around but no longer work together. They've both written books (Baddiel's Time For Bed is very funny) and various other things.
posted by MarkC at 9:26 AM on March 16, 2001

Some clips of Ali G surfaced on the Random Media Stuff server at work. Could someone tell me who this guy is? Does he have his own show? Or is he some random dude who pops up in late-night tv?
posted by RakDaddy at 12:54 PM on March 16, 2001

Ali G is the weirdo limo driver in Madonna's "Music" video. I'm not at all sure what the schtick is actually supposed to be, other than that of a hapless DJ-type, and what little of him I've seen didn't make a whole lot of sense. I don't think he translates very well to American audiences.
posted by aaron at 3:48 PM on March 16, 2001

<sigh>

Ali G is a white guy pretending to be an white (or possibly an Asian) guy pretending to be a black guy. He's a pisstake of the whole "white niggah" phenomenon, as seen particularly among the rap/dance DJs of Radio One. He started out as a mock "youth reporter" on the Eleven O'Clock Show, C4's knock-off of the Daily Show, conducting bizarre interviews with "serious" people, and ended up getting his own show. I really don't know how it could translate, but it's a really well-observed take on the way race and culture interact in Britain.

(Sample conversation, with Ulster Unionist:

"You is Irish then?"
"No, I'm British."
"So, you is 'ere on 'oliday, then?")

</>
posted by holgate at 4:33 PM on March 16, 2001

And, to summarise this telethon for our American audience:

* Billy Connolly, dancing round Eros in the nude
* Lenny Henry, Scots-dancing with about 50 naked men
* Graham Norton getting an old woman to say "fuck"
* a soap actress, a kebab, a stick of celery, a dog, and Vic'n'Bob
* Jack "I love you, Jane" Dee's glorious, and unwanted victory in Celebrity Nervous Breakdown

and £22.5m in the kitty. Glorious.

(No, this isn't public access TV.)
posted by holgate at 6:19 PM on March 16, 2001