For those who are not in the UK or the USA (they have an American version), Comic Relief is a Bi-annual charity event, aiming to raise money for charities in the UK and Africa, culminating in a TV event with comedy sketches, performances from some of the biggest music stars and highlights of the various challenges celebrities and members of the public have done in the run up to it.
One thing that has been a regular Comic Relief feature since 2017, is the LOLathon, involving Scott Mills and Chris Stark putting on a 24+ hour broadcast, consisting of jokes and stupid activities.
In the past, Chris Stark literally brought a horse into a bar (yes...really), done a Knock Knock joke at 10 Downing Street (again, that really did happen) and their fellow Radio 1 DJs, Adele Roberts and Jordan North, went out to find the dodgy sounding names of places in the UK (you would be surprised how many there are!).
Of course, things have been different for 2021 (the previously mentioned things happened in 2017 and 2019 respectively) yet Scott and Chris still managed to pull off a really good 24+ hour broadcast.
So why is the LOLathon the highlight of Comic Relief? Well, it means Scott and Chris can be let loose and do, to some extent, whatever they want (I mean their show is essentially like this in my opinion). However, they do even more crazy stuff than they usually do, particularly after 9pm.
During the day, three features were brought back in the form of Super fan Steve (Chris Stark) taking part in a quiz with Little Mix, with hilarious results (the unedited full version is even more hilarious) and Where Do You Think They Were, featuring Emily Atack and her mum, Katy Robbins (those who are regular listeners like me will know what this is about...). Scott also did some vocal coaching with MNEK, singing one of the biggest songs of 2020, Head & Heart
Little Mix, MNEK and Emily Atack weren't the only celebrity guests on the LOLathon. There was also KSI having his report card read out to him, Ian McKellan read out the lyrics to Babycakes by 3 of a Kind (does anyone else remember that song?) and Joe Lycett read some of Scott and Chris's old tweets. We also had a guest appearance from the Young Theatre Company, who performed a musical dedicated to the Scottish Beyoncé (his words not mine), Lewis Capaldi.
However, it wasn't just old features making a return and special guests. Each of the Radio DJs had a task to do. My personal highlight was Jordan North's "Running Jokes" challenge, which involved him being on a treadmill, whilst reading out jokes, with the rubbish ones causing the treadmill to speed up. There were a lot of classic jokes in there (mainly to do with cheese) and Jordan did really well, i.e. he managed to stay on his feet when the treadmill sped up.
The other highlight for me was Clara Amfo attempting to break a world record in terms of naming the most Beyoncé songs based on the first line of the song. Scott read the song lyrics and a Guinness Word Record adjudicator joining Radio 1 on Zoom (because of COVID restrictions), assessing whether Clara had managed to achieve this or not. Well...she did it! To be honest, why would doubt creep in when Clara is the resident Beyoncé fan of Radio 1? Clara also had the pleasure of hosting the first ever (and last...probably) Live Lounge for the 4 lads in Jeans who sang (what else) The Wellerman, after them singing it went viral on TikTok.
Other tasks set included Nick Grimshaw finding a group of Drag Dads (who called themselves Billie Irish, Jackie Beaver and Daddy Long Legs) and getting them to record a version of a song that went viral, when the Drag queens performed it on Drag Race UK. The song? UK Hun. Matt Edmondson organised Mollie King's hen do (complete with a life drawing session of Matt dressed up and Una Healy singing a special version of Issues) and Greg James found the funniest listener, who turned out to be someone singing in the style of Kermit the Frog and Annie Mac delivered possibly the best and worst mix ever, with a varied tracklist from Darude's Sandstorm to the Thomas the Tank Engine Theme.
Of course, the even better part is after 9pm, when (to some extent) anything can be said and done on Radio 1. There was a rude Whoooo game, a special non-official LOLathon anthem Yungblud wrote (in the style of Queen's I Want to Break Free) that jokingly implied Jack Saunders hated his Radio 1 colleagues (he doesn't) and Melvin Odoom read a letter sent to him from an ex, in front of Scott and Chris, and his colleagues, Charlie Hedges and Rickie Haywood Williams. The DJs also told some rude jokes live on air and took part in an alternative film quiz with Radio 1's film expert, Ali Plumb, complete with rude team names. It was quite interesting to hear Greg James, Clara Amfo and, of course, Scott and Chris, swear...
At the end of the day (or day and a half?) a very tired Scott and Chris finished hosting a 28 hour show and raised (at the time of ending the LOLathon) a massive £507,089. Of course, it is worth mentioning they have raised more since then (the total revealed during the Comic Relief telethon was £538,431) .
Click the video below to see highlights of the most hilarious 28 hours ever:
Em x
PS: to donate to Comic Relief (if you can), visit donation.comicrelief.com
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