Do something funny for money (Comic Relief)

Member Name: hypno06

Product:	Comic Relief
Date:	13/03/09 (233 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great evening of entertainment

Disadvantages: Pressure to donate money

Today is the day that school children all over the UK have been having "non-uniform" days, hair has been sprayed red, and celebrities will be on our television for 8 hours this evening providing us with entertainment that varies between downright hilarious, and just a little bit cringeworthy! Yes, the bi-annual fundraiser that is Comic Relief is here again!

Comic relief began in 1985, and takes the format every couple of years of Comedians and Celebrities encouraging ordinary folk to part with their money in return for being provided with an evenings worth of comedy and the chance to do something "funny" in the name of charity. The resultant cash, and there is millions of it, is divided - 40% going to UK charity, and 60% to provide Aid to Africa.

Many people will have a view on whether we should be asked to dip into our pockets and provide yet more cash for these projects, and whether political parties, here and abroad, could and should do more or do things differently, and that is quite possibly a subject for a whole different review, probably in "speaker's corner".

On a day like today, we will see celebs "at their best" - giving up their time, and making a fool of themselves, in the interests of helping others. They all say that they do it for free, and I have nothing to say otherwise, and I am sure they enjoy the positive publicity that they get from doing such a deed, but usually you can see that they are actually, genuinely enjoying themselves, and that means that the comedy element is even better - remember Tony Blair in his sketch with Katherine Tate last time round, or Ali G with the Beckhams, and Robbie Williams in Little Britain, being a Laydee!

But Comic Relief is not just about one day - celebs have been working on it for months - a whole team have just climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, not just a feat in itself, but the training that some of them have put in was a big commitment! Celebrities doing "The Apprentice", celebrity Dance competitions and the like have provided us with great entertainment over the weeks.

Tonight's TV will see a whole host of sketches, glitches, and musical treats, and generally provides a good opportunity to sit on the sofa, with a bottle of wine, the kids and some popcorn and have a right good giggle.

BUT, don't forget the serious side - this is all about raising money for charity, and we will be reminded many times during the course of the night that the idea is for us to part with our cash. Of course, the causes are very worthy, and I know that a relatively small amount of my cash can help save a family from malaria in Africa, or to give a child-carer a much needed day's break in the UK........and now I am starting to sound like a Grumpy old Woman.....but I sometimes feel the pressure to donate......and I have not always been able to do so, yet have been made to feel that "they are worse off than me so of course I should donate".........Take today, for example......I have not got a single penny in my bank account and it is 10 days until payday. My overdrafts are up to the max and I still need to find bus fare for my daughter to get to college next week. But yet I still needed to find a pound each for non uniform day, to sponsor a neighbour's daughter for her sponsored silence, to pay £2 at work for not wearing a suit (even though I still did because I had important clients to see), 50p for a cake or a biscuit at work, £2 for a sweepstake in the office, where the winner gets half the "pot" of £30 - woo, this could be my saving grace, but then reading the email further down I saw that they hoped that whoever won, would donate their winnings back to comic relief........no pressure there then...!

Anyway, by the time I get to sit on my sofa to watch the entertainment, I have somehow managed to part with a reasonable amount of money that I didn't have in the first place! I couldn't send the children to school in uniform so I didn't have to pay a pound, and I couldn't NOT buy a square in the sweepstake when everyone else had (and no, I didn't win, anyway), and even though I have given up chocolate for Lent, so didn't eat the bloomin cake, I still paid my 50p, because Lent didn't seem a good enough reason not to......so why am I already feeling guilty about the fact that I am going to benefit from entertainment without reaching for the phone to pledge more!

Surely, many people must be in the same situation.......so it amazes me year on year when so much money is raised!

But when you think about it, there are 60 million people in the UK (or thereabouts) but only £20 ish million is raised each time.......that means that the average person is donating just 35p or thereabouts........That is really quite awful! (I am editing this on 14th March to say that the total was over £57million this year, a fantastic amount! But still less than £1 per person.)

Suddenly I don't feel so guilty about the fact that I won't be donating more this evening, after all, most of the UK are presumably donating nothing!

So, enjoy the entertainment, but if you can possibly afford it, please make a donation in return......even just a pound or two, but please don't feel guilty if ALL you can afford is a pound or two.

Summary: Mixed feelings there - apologies for that!