Two years ago July 21, 2014, Robin Williams left our Planet. On August 11, he will have been 65 years old. Planet Earth misses Robin and needs to celebrate his comic genius more than ever. We need to be filled up with his zany spirit and laugh until our sides ache..not our hearts. Lord knows, we need another Comic Relief …and we need it bad. The last one was 6 years ago.
Whoopi? Billy? Perhaps you would be willing to start the ball rolling by exploring the idea with HBO again, since they televised at least 10 of them and, along with some other sponsors, picked up all (or most) of the costs for the Comic Relief events, enabling nearly every cent raised or contributed to go to the cause.***
You could ask other comic cut-ups to join the line-up: some great first-timers, like Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Bette Midler, Wanda Sykes, and some “repeat offenders” like Steven Wright, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart, Margret Cho, Dana Carvey, Roseanne Barr, Dave Chappelle, Rosie O’Donnell, Bill Maher, Lewis Black, Paula Poundstone, Howie Mandel to name a few.
While many celebrities host or perform at Comic Relief events, some also get involved personally in projects run or supported by the charity. Comedian Paul Rodriguez, who helped open a medical facility in Denver, Colorado, made possible by CR funds, was approached by a woman holding a baby who told him: “If it wasn’t for Comic Relief, this child wouldn’t have been born.***
It’s time for another live performance that is streamed and broadcast around the world, taped and available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray along with its collaterals like T-shirts and mugs. Once again, Comic Relief could not only raise our Planet’s vibration through laughter, but also distribute more sorely-needed funds to Health Care for the Homeless, its primary benefactor, with project sites in 85 cities in the U.S. Robin would be proud.
***Comic Relief: The Best of Comedy for the Best of Causes, edited by Todd Gold, 1995; Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-22851; ISBN 0-380-97391-X