''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'' of 2010 was a British comedy benefit show organised by Channel 4. It was the inaugural Channel 4 Comedy Gala, an annual charity event held

O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to: *The O2 Arena (London) *O2 Arena (Prague) *The 3Arena The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...

in London in aid of

Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

. Filmed live on 30 March 2010, a two and a half-hour highlights show was broadcast on Channel 4 on 5 April 2010. Billed by Channel 4 as "the biggest live stand up show in UK history" it featured seventeen comedians performing stand-up, as well as a number of others performing live and pre-recorded sketches, to an audience of 16,000. It raised nearly £1 million to open a new anaesthetic room.

Beneficiary

All profits from ticket and DVD sales of the Comedy Gala were to go to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. All performers waived their fees for the show. The money was to be used towards the provision of two new anaesthetic rooms, allowing parents to remain with their children up until the time they enter the operating theatres. Katie Price made an appearance at the gala, mentioning that her disabled son Harvey is a regular visitor to the hospital. At the end of the performance, Jack Dee presented Lee Evans with a Channel 4 lifetime achievement award, which he auctioned on the spot for £5,000 for the charity, selling it to a member of the audience. Evans told the audience of his personal connection to the hospital, through the loss of his brother's eight-year-old son. Jack Dee's son was also once a patient at the hospital. The 2010 gala ultimately raised nearly £1 million, enough to open a new anaesthetic room.

History

The Comedy Gala was commissioned by Channel 4 Entertainment commissioning editor, Syeda Irtizaali. Promoted by

Off the Kerb Off The Kerb Productions is a British talent agency company that mainly works with comedians. The company was owned by Addison Cresswell. The company is responsible for many comedians, including Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Jeremy Hardy, Jo Brand, Alan ...

Productions, it was to be filmed by Open Mike Productions. 14,000 tickets went on sale on 12 February 2010 for the live show at the O2 Arena, scheduled for 30 March 2010. 2,000 more tickets were released on 26 February. With over 25 performers taking part, Channel 4 promoted the show as "the biggest live stand up show in United Kingdom history", and "the comedy event of the year". All tickets for the show were sold in advance according to promoters Off the Kerb. The live show was to be opened by Alan Carr, and would feature live stand-up from several comedians, with other artists contributing additional sketches and filmed inserts, in addition to celebrity appearances from the likes of Katie Price and Alex Reid, and Christine Bleakley, as well as musicals performances by Stomp and

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

. Channel 4 was to screen 2 hours of highlights from the show at 9pm on

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

Easter Monday Easter Monday refers to the day after Easter Sunday in either the Eastern or Western Christian traditions. It is a public holiday in some countries. It is the second day of Eastertide. In Western Christianity, it marks the second day of the Octa ...

, 5 April 2010. It was announced on 1 April that the Channel 4 broadcast would also feature a special advert break, with Jimmy Carr mocking a selection of willing advertisers. The live-show went ahead, finishing at 11pm. The Channel 4 programme aired on 5 April, running for an extra 30 minutes over the advertised length. There was a hint at the second gala to come, when Jack Dee closed the first show stating "we'll see you next year, thank you and goodnight". A second gala was duly announced on 10 March 2011.

Cast

Stand up performers

The following people appeared, performing live stand-up: * Jo Brand *

John Bishop John Marcus Bishop (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and former footballer. Bishop formerly played football as a midfielder for Winsford United F.C., Crewe Alexandra F.C., Runcorn F.C., Rhyl F.C., Witton Albion ...

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series '' Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows including '' Would ...

* Alan Carr * Jack Dee * Lee Evans * Noel Fielding *

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

* Shappi Khorsandi * Patrick Kielty *

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perri ...

* Jason Manford * Michael McIntyre * Andy Parsons *

Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, wh ...

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series ''Fresh Meat (TV series), Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series ''Bad Educat ...

Other in person appearances

The following people also appeared live, either as hosts, special guests, or in sketches or musical performances: * Christine Bleakley * Rob Brydon *

Fonejacker ''Fonejacker'' is a British comedy programme broadcast on E4 featuring a series of prank calls involving a number of different characters performed by British Iranian television actor Kayvan Novak. It first appeared in May 2006 and became a fu ...

James Corden James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...

* Peter Dickson (voice) *

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge' ...

* Ruth Jones * David Mitchell * Katie Price * Alex Reid *

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

* Stomp * Catherine Tate *

Gok Wan Kowkhyn Wan (; born 9 September 1974), known as Gok Wan, is a British Wardrobe stylist, fashion consultant, author, television presenter, actor, DJ, chef and event manager. Initially training in the performing arts at the Central School of Sp ...

Pre-recorded appearances

The following people appeared during the live show in pre-recorded parts, either in special messages or sketches: * Kevin Bishop * Derren Brown * Alan Carr * Jimmy Carr *

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

(voice) * Kyle MacLachlan * Stephen Merchant (voice) * David Mitchell *

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

(voice) * Patrick Stewart *

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

* Robert Webb

Notes

Jo Brand performed despite suffering from norovirus.

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

was due to appear according to some Channel 4 publicity before the show, although he did not ultimately feature. Christine Bleakley, having appeared in her regular role as presenter of '' The One Show'' broadcast live from 7pm, ultimately took part in the show accompanying

as a host, although she did not ultimately perform any stand-up.

Show elements

The majority of the show was live stand-up, although it also included some musical performances and in-character performances.

Running order

Stand-up acts, sketches and other pre-recorded parts were broadcast in the Channel 4 show in the following order (minus hosts): * Stomp * Alan Carr * Jason Manford * Jo Brand *Apology sketches ad-break *

*Short film about Great Ormond Street *Special message from

special ad break featuring Jimmy Carr * Patrick Kielty *Special message from '' The Ricky Gervais Show'' *First '' The Kevin Bishop Show'' television sketch ad-break * Andy Parsons *

ad-break * Michael McIntyre *

ad-break * Jack Dee * Shappi Khorsandi * ''Peep Show'' television sketch ad-break * Noel Fielding *'' Gavin & Stacey'' live sketch *

ad-break *Second '' The Kevin Bishop Show'' television sketch * Lee Evans as 'The Lee Evans Trio' ad-break *Lee Evans's main act

Hosts and special guests

All the stand-up acts were given 4–5 minutes to perform, with longer performances from Michael McIntyre and Lee Evans. To gel the stand-up acts and sketches together, the show used several hosts presenting in turn, which split the show into different notional sections; as well as using special guests and in-character acts for other one-off introductions for other acts. Alan Carr and Jack Dee acted as both hosts and stand-up performers, while some other hosts had short 1 minute acts too. Alan Carr was the first host, introducing Jason Manford, Jo Brand, the apology sketches and Sean Lock, before appearing in the short film about the hospital.

then took over as host, introducing the message from Johnny Depp, then the acts by Kevin Bridges, the special ad-break, Patrick Kielty, and the special sketch by ''The Ricky Gervais Show''. Rob Brydon and

then introduced the first ''Kevin Bishop Show'' sketch and Andy Parsons, while Brydon then went on to do a short

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

impression before then introducing Mark Watson. Michael McIntyre was introduced by the celebrity couple Katie Price and Alex Reid, while

, appearing in character as 'Terry Tibbs' and accompanied by celebrity guest and BBC presenter Christine Bleakley, then introduced Jack Dee's act. Following his own act, Dee went on to introduce Shappi Khorsandi and the ''Peep Show'' sketch. Catherine Tate then appeared in character as Joanie Taylor ("Nan") from '' The Catherine Tate Show'', to introduce Noel Fielding. The '' Gavin & Stacy'' sketch was not announced, while its characters Corden and Jones then introduced John Bishop. David Mitchell then took over as host, introducing Jack Whitehall, Rich Hall and the second ''Kevin Bishop Show'' sketch. The hosts themselves were introduced by the voice of Peter Dickson, with the exception of David Mitchell who was introduced by the previous act, John Bishop. Dickson also introduced Bill Bailey and Lee Evans as the only other acts not introduced in person by somebody. For comedic effect, the start of the ''Gavin & Stacey'' sketch was not announced at all.

Other live acts

The show opened with a performance by the musical troupe Stomp who make music using plastic and metal bins and barrels, and oil drums. Alan Carr was then revealed to have been in one of their wheelie bins for the entire performance. Tipped out of the bin, he begins the stand-up show with his own act, before acting as host for the first segment. Bill Bailey performed a short stand-up before going on to perform various musical comedy shorts on the keyboard, with additional vocals by

and Ruth Jones appeared in character as Smithy and Nessa from their television sit-com '' Gavin & Stacey'', carrying forward the plot from the final episode by pretending to be visiting London on a day trip from Barry Island. Lost and late, they appear on stage looking for their seats, before realising they're on stage and carrying on in character. In 'The Lee Evans Trio', Lee Evans appears on his own, spotlighted in turn, miming playing three different instruments, drums, double bass and piano.

Pre-recorded sketches

Various performers provided special shorts of their television shows for the Gala. A special message from the animated show '' The Ricky Gervais Show'' featured the voices of

, Stephen Merchant &

in a sketch about giving to charity and swimming with dolphins. In the first '' The Kevin Bishop Show'' sketch, Bishop appears as 'Rok Wan' alongside Gok Wan as Gok's younger brother, for a make-over. In his second sketch, in a notional More4 programme 'Celebrity Siblings Reunited', Bishop appears as 'Darren Brown', meeting his twin brother Derren Brown on their birthday. In the '' Peep Show'' sketch, David Mitchell and Robert Webb perform a sketch in a restaurant about donating to charity. Actors Sir Patrick Stewart and

, singer

, actor Kyle MacLachlan, celebrity

, all appeared during the show to give notional pre-recorded messages of apology for not being able to attend. However, these were all in fact comedy spoofs. Johnny Depp and Rihanna joked that Jonathan Ross was the reason they weren't appearing, Osbourne play-acted that she had been snubbed by Channel 4, while Stewart and MacLachlan sent-up the general idea of celebrities being less than committed to making appearances at charity galas. Pitched by Carr as the 'serious bit' in the mould of Comic Relief type information films inserted between the comedy acts, the short film broadcast early in the show about the Great Ormond Street Hospital featured instead, Alan Carr touring the hospital meeting staff and patients, making various comic gaffes. During the special ad-break featuring Jimmy Carr, Carr appeared either in specially filmed inserts, or in walkover shots, mocking adverts for

Gocompare.com Go.Compare (formerly GoCompare.com) is a British financial services comparison company based in Newport, Wales. Its website provides comparison details for financial products including car insurance, home and pet insurance and breakdown cover. ...

, Churchill car insurance, Specsavers, PokerStars.com, Kerry Low Low cheese and

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

Reception

The live show was greeted with average to good reviews, with '' The Daily Telegraph'' and the London '' Evening Standard'' giving it 4 out of 5 stars, while '' The Times'' and '' The Independent'' gave it 3 stars. The length of the show and size of the arena were pointed out as detracting points. Michael McIntyre and Lee Evans were universally recognised as being the best acts of the show. Other noted acts were Jack Dee, John Bishop, Rich Hall, Noel Fielding, and a musical routine by Bill Bailey and Kevin Eldon. With McIntyre being closer of the first half, and Evans closing the show, they had both been given longer than the 5 minutes given to most acts, leading to observations that this meant the intervening acts had neither the time to die a death, or heat up the performance beyond being just enjoyable. The inclusion of Katie Price and Alex Reid was questioned; they were roundly booed by the audience. Media outlets picked up on Patrick Kielty and Sean Lock's inclusion of gags about Michael Jackson, who had been planning to stage his farewell concerts at the arena before his shock death nine months previously. The Channel 4 broadcast on 5 April was to be the highlight of the Channel 4 Easter programming, going up against the Guardian's other Easter Monday TV highlight selections of the final ever episode of ''A Touch of Frost'' on ITV, and the UK premiere of the long-awaited series ''The Pacific'', on

Sky Movies Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

. The broadcast ultimately came third in the terrestrial viewer ratings in its time slot. It registered 2.172 million viewers, a 9.9% audience share, between 9 pm and 11.05 pm, with a further 254,000 viewers watching on the timeshift service, Channel 4 +1. This was behind the 8.338 million viewers (34%) registered by ''A Touch of Frost'', and the 4.321 million (16.1%) who watched '' MasterChef'' on BBC One. ''The Pacific'' registered 631,000 viewers on the digital-only channel Sky Movies.

DVD release

An uncut version of the full 3-hour show was released on DVD by Universal Pictures on Monday 26 April 2010.

References

External links

Channel 4's Comedy Gala microsite

Channel 4's Comedy Gala programme guide

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Off the Kerb Productions
* {{British Comedy Guide, tv, channel4_comedy_gala 2010 television specials Channel 4 comedy Health-related fundraisers Great Ormond Street Hospital Stand-up comedy concert films Stand-up comedy on DVD 2010 in London