The Show Must Go On : Comic Relief Revised for a Post-Riot Audience

Last Saturday, a week after rioters in Los Angeles plundered stores and scorched the city with fires, the organizers of Comic Relief, HBO’s periodic gathering of comedians who tell jokes to raise money for America’s homeless, held an emergency meeting to debate whether to postpone tonight’s event at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Among other things, they were fearful that viewers across the country who saw the violence on television might have confused the rioters with homeless people.

They decided to go ahead, but they are still worried.

“A lot of these homeless shelters are in the areas that were hardest hit by the riots,” said Chris Albrecht, HBO’s West Coast vice president of original programming. “After Los Angeles just got this kind of exposure, we are concerned that some people might not be able to separate in their minds who was behind the riots.”

Before the riots, organizers were expecting their biggest contributions ever. Comic Relief was on a roll, having raised $5.8 million with the last live fund-raiser in 1990--more than double the funds raised during the first one in 1986. All the money goes to health care and other services for 500,000 homeless people in 23 American cities.

“I guess we are worried about how willing people will be to give money after watching 24 hours of rioters running through the streets burning buildings,” Albrecht said.

Some revisions have been made for tonight’s four-hour show--which is being carried on HBO live for the East Coast and tape delayed here on the West Coast, starting at 9:

* Half of the gate proceeds from the event, about $200,000, will be presented in a check to Mayor Tom Bradley for riot relief in Los Angeles.

* Billy Crystal, who co-hosts with Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams, is working up a dramatic performance piece from the first-person perspective of a black man living in South-Central Los Angeles during the uprising. Goldberg is preparing a monologue titled “From Clarence to Daryl.”

* The black gospel group Sounds of Blackness will perform a symbolic song called “Optimism,” with video of the Los Angeles clean-up efforts spearheaded by Edward James Olmos.

“My gut feeling was no, let’s not put (Comic Relief) off,” said Bob Zmuda, president and founder of the Comic Relief organization. “If there ever was a time to do this, this is the best time. In fact, it might even help the cause because everybody was looking at the problem that created the riots, and it didn’t take too much to see that it had to do with the haves and have-nots.”

To dispel any myths, Zmuda pointed out that the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population are single parents, children and families--not the gang members who allegedly fueled the violence in Los Angeles.

“Everyone finally agreed what we should really do is go ahead, because there’s a need now more than ever,” said John Moffitt of Moffitt-Lee Productions, which is producing the Comic Relief show. “This may help focus people’s attention on the fact that the need in Los Angeles also exists across the country.”

Still, the organizers fear that Comic Relief V does not have anywhere near the momentum heading into tonight’s show as past fund-raisers, which started as a one-time pledge drive for the homeless and has grown into a regular event. The weekend of the riots, Crystal, Goldberg and Williams were set to tape appearances together on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Today,” “Entertainment Tonight,” CNN and other outlets, but the media day was abruptly canceled and could not be rescheduled.

“When we were in New York at Radio City Music Hall two years ago (for the last Comic Relief), we got a lot of attention because we had never been there,” Moffitt said. “It was Comic Relief week. This year we came back here and nobody is aware because of the riots.”

Another reason Comic Relief stayed on schedule is the difficulty that organizers had in locking down all the talent--there are at least three dozen comedians, celebrities and musical acts--especially the three hosts, who have been with Comic Relief from the start. In fact, Comic Relief V was tentatively set for last fall but was postponed until tonight because the high-profile hosts could not be pinned down.

Comic Relief could serve as a highly visible platform for comedians who want to make a serious or humorous statement about recent events in Los Angeles. But while there are certain to be some Rodney G. King-inspired jokes tonight, few comedians seemed sure what approach was best.

“This is a very touchy thing for Super Dave,” said Bob Einstein, who will make an appearance tonight as his character, goofy stuntman Super Dave Obsorne. “Because what Super Dave would say is, ‘What riot?’ But I can’t. It’s too volatile and too serious. I can see humor in almost anything. I just haven’t been able to see anything funny in this.”

“You know, what’s been popular over the past years sadly is incredibly racist, incredibly provoking (comedy) material,” said comic Paula Poundstone. “To me, the lesson in this whole thing has a lot to do with responsibility. I guess I don’t have anything all that humorous to say about the riots. I’m not sure I’ve completely sorted it out yet.”

Fund-Raisers

The Comic Relief project has raised at least $14 million for the homeless.

YEAR DONATIONS Comic Relief I 1986 $2.5 Comic Relief II 1987 $2.6 Comic Relief III 1989 $3.6 Comic Relief IV 1990 $5.8 Total $14.5 million

Note: Funds raised are shown in millions of dollars and include activities throughout the year. A “Greatest Hits” show in 1991 raised $470,000.

Source: Comic Relief