Red Nose Day May 21
Thursday, May 21 at 8:00PM on NBC

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Images Provided by: NBC

Red Nose Day May 21
Thursday, May 21 at 8:00PM on NBC

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day

Images Provided by: NBC

Your Favorite Stars Clown Around for a Great Cause! Help Young People in Need With Red Nose Day on May 21!

Red Nose Day

Tune in to NBC at 8:00PM on May 21 For A Lot of Laughs!

By: Samira Shahbandy

For the first time since its start in 1988, Comic Relief’s “Red Nose Day” is coming to the United States with a more than entertaining lineup for this year’s show on NBC. The fun campaign is “dedicated to raising money for children and young people living in poverty by simply having fun and making people laugh.” (RedNoseDay.org)

On May 21, NBC will air a three-hour, star-studded special hosted by Seth Meyes, David Duchovny and Jane Krakowski that hopes to raise awareness for the cause and encourage viewers to donate. Tune in to see which actors, comedians, and musicians show up to get you to laugh for a good cause.

Writer/Producer, Richard Curtis, known for “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” and actor, Jack Black, known for “School of Rock,” teamed up to help spread awareness about the event and its important cause—children in poverty around the world.

“I consider myself a pretty average person. I think there are two things [that make this important to me]. I’ve never lost the belief because of things that I’ve seen, like Jack has seen in Uganda, that tiny bits of money can make a huge amount of difference. So it’s massively tempting when you think, ‘Well, if I can do this I’ll raise $1,000,’ you think, ‘Well, its $1,000; that’s 250 malaria nets.’ I can never get that out of my mind, that it’s an unbelievable reward for quite a simple action,” Curtis said.

He continued, recalling previous years’ outcomes. “And then the length of it really is because it was surprisingly successful. It was like having a child and then you have to manage it. We made $15 million, I think, on the first one, and then $27 million on the second one, and I didn’t know how to walk away.”

“Red Nose Day” is an organization through Comic Relief UK, coming to the United States through Comic Relief Inc., a different independent organization with the same purpose. Every two years, a show of varied performances is aired to get people to donate to the organization. In the past, the organization has worked with popular musicians and bands, such as The Wanted, One Direction, Sam Smith and John Legend.

“I think you’ll be impressed by one or two people. I mean, we’ve just been shooting with Reese Witherspoon, Zac Efron, Liam Neeson and Richard Gere in the last couple of days. So I think there’s going to be, you know, a broad variety of, certainly people we wouldn’t dream of getting in the U.K. and doing here,” Curtis revealed of this year’s show.

Sadly, “Red Nose Day” newcomer, Jack Black won’t be an entertainer at this year’s event. He did, however, go to Uganda to see who this organization is helping.

“I went out to Uganda and spent a lot of time with the kids. That was—that’s kind of like ‘School of Rock.’ There was a little bit of jamming, there was a little bit of music out there… I was out there as a reporter just sort of letting people know what the situation was like in some of these poverty-stricken neighborhoods and where their money would be going… It’s a lot different, obviously, than going and doing a movie strictly for laughs,” Black spoke of his journey.

“My performance is really something that I did in Africa. It was about me going there and being the eyes and ears for ‘Red Nose Day’ on location. That was really my—the extent of my participation. The comedic and musical performances on the day are going to be a bunch of other people. I’m just going to be enjoying in the audience,” Black continued.

Even though Black’s part is more or less finished for the year, Curtis was more than grateful for Black’s participation, saying, “One of the things that we’ve tried never to do on ‘Red Nose Day,’ and I think is really important, is we don’t really want to send experts out. The last thing anyone wants is someone taking about agricultural leaves and holistic, you know, holistic health systems. What was so brilliant was that Jack went open-eyed as a normal human being. He just happens to be a human being that most people know or feel they know.”

He went on to describe his experience with Black. “And so that’s what I think is so wonderful about the little films he’s made, that it’s like you’re there. You know, you’re not being lectured to by someone who knows everything about all the charities and the politics and the economics, you just are a human being reacting to other human beings, which is what we’re trying to do on the night; just make people identify with other people whose lives are hard and see if they can spare some money, and Jack just did that so beautifully.”

After returning from Uganda, Black had a total new respect for those they were helping. “It was spending time with these kids and these parents and just seeing how amazing they were as people that really moved me the most. If it—if I had gone over there and just seen a bunch of victims that didn’t have any hope, it wouldn’t have been as powerful to me as seeing these kids that were so funny and talented and brilliant. And I was just blown away by the tragedy of potential, you know, and these amazing people that I could see growing up and having amazing contributions to the world. And that’s what really gave me the deep sense of urgency, you know, is that these kids have magic in them and the need to be, not just rescued, but you know, inspired. They’re hungry for education just as much as food, you know? It’s not just about survival; it’s also about, like nurturing something really special. That was my biggest takeaway in general and the thing that moved me the most was just how great these kids were.”

The “Red Nose Day Special” airs on Thursday, May 21 from 8-11pm on NBC.

For more on the Red Nose Day special visit http://www.nbc.com/red-nose-day

For more about the cause in general visit: https://www.rednoseday.org/