Red Nose Day is a hilarious institution of charitable works in the United Kingdom. It's a time that people combine humor, showmanship, hilarious challenges, and plain old good will to raise money for great causes around the world (some of Global Citizen's great partners are even recipients, like Care, Oxfam, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance). This year, Red Nose Day has come to the US (if you've been in a Walgreens lately, you've seen the really fun Red Noses available there). If you need to know more, check out my colleague's great run down of everything you need to know about Red Nose Day.
The event is raising money through individual donors and culminating with a major television event, Thursday night, May 21st on NBC.
To get everyone pumped (and informed) about the event, I spoke with one of its founders, filmaker, philanthropist and global citizen: Richard Curtis.
Brandon Blackburn-Dwyer (BBD): Comedy and charity are two things people don’t generally associate with each other, why do you think they work together so well? How does Red Nose Day bring these two ideas together effectively?
Richard Curtis (RC): I remember when I was in Ethiopia in 1986 - in the middle of the most brutal refugee camps - that even there, people were laughing - I remember one little thin kid slipping from a weighing machine on to the ground and everyone roaring with laughter. We’re actually fighting for the right for everyone being well enough and well-fed enough to laugh. So laughter is a very logical way of going about it in my book. The basic idea is that we provide the best, classiest entertainment show we possibly can - and then slip some classy appeals to raise money in the middle of it.
BBD: What is the connection between buying the red noses, available at Walgreens in the US, and the television elements?
RC: The red nose is the symbol of the campaign - and the Red Noses in Walgreens do a lot of things - for start - they raise money, and I still believe that with malaria nets just costing $4, a dollar can make a difference - sort of save a life. Then we hope that people who buy the noses will feel involved - so be more likely to do a fun fundraising thing at work, or school, or home. And then also - well, if all 5 million people who bought noses watched the tv show, that’d be very nice indeed.
BBD:Do you think people look ridiculous in their Red Noses? (cause I think I look good, but not everyone may agree....)
RC: Some people’s looks are actually improved by a Red Nose covering half their face. You are one of those lucky few.
BBD: Red Nose Day raises a large amount of money, how do you select what charities receive money from the Red Nose Day Fund?
RC: In this first year in the USA we decided on a really simple route. 50% of the money will go to work with kids in the USA, 50% will be changing and saving children's lives abroad. And then we looked for a good portfolio of trusted, loved, exciting charities. 12 in all - and we’ll be giving them the cash afterwards to do their very best work.
BBD: What’s the funniest thing someone has done for Red Nose Day?
RC: Steve Coogan did a duet with Bjork which wasn’t wise. David & Victoria Beckham let themselves be interviewed by Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G which was obviously a mistake - but funny for the rest of us. Daniel Craig has let us really mock him twice - last year we did a short documentary about how he has the voice of a 12 year old girl. ( Very funny sequel to that in the USA show on Thursday - with Julia Roberts / Liam Neeson / Hugh Grant all re-voiced most dangerously )
BBD: What’s the most extreme thing someone has done for Red Nose Day?
RC: There have been some really dangerous and brave things. Comedians who aren’t athletes have run marathons, swum the British channel, cycled the length of the UK, swum the length of the Thames.
BBD:Red Nose Day has become an institution in the UK. Why did it take so long to bring it to the US?
RC: Ha! The truth is - we work so hard every year to make Red Nose Day fresh that we never looked across the ocean. The plus is that we’ve now got so much experience, I think we stand a better chance starting here in the USA now than we would have done 5, 10, 15 years ago.
BBD:The television event is on May 21st on NBC, can you give us any spoilers about who we might be seeing do something on the night?
RC: I think, all ten fingers crossed, it’ll be an amazing show and I strongly recommend you watch. There are some strong and really touching fundraising films - particularly from Jack Black in Uganda and Michelle Rodriguez in Peru. But the other stuff is really unique - Coldplay have written 8 songs for a musical of Game of Thrones and we have a Spinal Tap type mini-documentary as they try to sell it to the cast of the TV show. We’ve got movie stars galore being stupid ( there’s a great game of telephone going through Chris Pine / Emily Blunt / Zac Ephron / P Diddy / Reese Witherspoon and more ) - we’ve got comedy stars being funny (Will Ferrell & Nick Offerman exploding on to The Voice) - we’ve got Ben Stiller being deceitful. I think it’ll be a surprising and funny night.
BBD: Red Nose Day does seem to be taking off, as people move forward with this great event what is your advice for people out there who want to be better global citizens?
RC: I think I’d say - play to your strengths. I’ve tried to get entertainers to be entertaining, comedians to be funny - and even those who make appeals don’t make them as experts, they make them as normal humans experiencing new things. If you’re good online - be clever online: if you’re good at writing - write about things: if you have a knack for politics or protest - use that. I was just a mid-level tv comedy writer when I started Red Nose Day and I’ve found so many wonderful people keen to help that together we’ve raised over a billion dollars. With the winds of global change in your sails - there’s nowhere you can’t get to. And the joys of creating change are a thousand times more profound than making money, in my experience.
Richard Curtis is a huge inspiration to me. He has turned his talent and passion for life into global philanthropy. You can do something even simpler, and turn your passion for good entertainment into philanthropy by tuning into Red Nose Day on Thursday night at 8pm EST.