Comic relief at the BBC, 16/03/07

I probably chose the most difficult day to journey down to White City to participate as an audience member for a show at the BBC. Friday 16th was not just hosting the standard run of the mill show, oh no, it was all about the big red fundraising nose called Comic Relief.

Having only been to a television studio years ago for some random game show featuring Boyzone, I was all excited about the prospect of mixing with the great BBC production team to see how live shows like Comic Relief come about.
With our pre-ordered tickets in hand we arranged to meet at 9pm an hour before our actual entry into the studios. We were told that tickets didn’t guarantee entry, so we assumed that an hour would be more than enough time to cue before getting in to the late night adult version of the show.

Unusually, I arrived first on the scene and decided to join the ever-growing line of people hoping to each get a place in the studio. It was lucky I did join the cue, as after my mates arrived we were the last four people to be let in to the building with at least a hundred people being turned away right behind us. Once inside the building we had just enough to time to get our free drink before making our way into the studio. Now because we were the last four people in the building we were placed on standby, which meant despite getting this far, there was no assurance that we would even make it in to the studio. Luckily for us we did.

Being last in actually worked out in our favour, as we were placed right next to the stage with the likes of Davina McCall, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton all just meters away. The highlight of the evening had to be The Killers performance. We were lucky enough to notice them come on stage to the left of the studio and started scoot our way over to the stage, so that when the performance began we were right at the front with full view of the band. I even managed to catch a flower that Brandon Flowers chucked into the crowd. Mysteriously enough that flower is still alive. Maybe The Killers should be renamed The Elixir of Life instead.

I did not anticipate just how much work goes in to a show like Comic relief. There were at least 8 massive cameras moving all over the place throughout the whole show. The down side to being right at the front was the constant need to be herded off in different areas. We left about 1am just in time to bump into Patrick Kilty walking in the Gents toilets. Apparently he didn’t wash his hands, so be warned.

I had such a great time, it was just a shame that it got too tiring to stand up any longer or I might have stayed till the end. Big up to anyone who donated some cash on the night, your all stars.