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Sir Lenny Henry, Emily Burns and JP Cooper

Sir Lenny Henry tells Zoe all about this year's Red Nose Day for Comic Relief. Plus there's live music from Emily Burns and JP Cooper from the 大象传媒's Maida Vale studios.

Sir Lenny Henry, the actor, comedian and co-founder of Comic Relief, tells Zoe all about this year's Red Nose Day. Lenny was born in Dudley in the West Midlands in 1958 and burst onto the scene in 1975, when his comic impersonations saw him win the television talent show New Faces. As well as starring in a host of TV series, including The Lenny Henry Show, Chef! and Hope and Glory Lenny co-founded the charity Comic Relief with screenwriter Richard Curtis in 1985. Lenny is hosting the big 大象传媒 One live show from 7pm live with Davina McCall, Paddy McGuinness, Alesha Dixon and David Tennant.
Among the unmissable moments: the greatest disaster movie never made, featuring Keira Knightley at her wits end; the hosts of Top Gear facing interrogation by their most savage critics to date 鈥 and not one of them is old enough to get behind the wheel of a car; and a special message from Geraldine Granger, who takes on this year鈥檚 fundraising challenge to lip sync to her favourite song of last year, Juice by Lizzo.

Emily Burns and JP Cooper perform live from the 大象传媒 Maida Vale studios. Emily Burns is a rising star, a UK singer-songwriter who's been supported by 大象传媒 Introducing and, her collaboration with JP Cooper on her single 'Is It Just Me?' has helped her to accumulate an incredible 80 million streams following the summer 2020 release of her latest EP, I Love You, You鈥檙e the Worst, featuring the vivacious pop anthems 鈥楾errified鈥 and 鈥楬ello鈥, as well as the beautifully emotive 鈥楥urse鈥.

Along with Clare Runacres on news, Richie Anderson on travel and Mike Williams on sport, she and the team have the best start to your morning. With celeb guests, headlines, tunes chosen by listeners, and more music that you can shake a glitterball at!

There's also a daily Pause For Thought and listeners on the line, as Zoe entertains the nation with fun for the family!

2 hours, 59 minutes

Music Played

  • Huey Lewis and the News

    The Power Of Love

    • Huey Lewis & The News - Fore!.
    • Chrysalis.
  • Rag鈥檔鈥橞one Man

    All You Ever Wanted

    • Life By Misadventure.
    • Best Laid Plans.
  • Chaka Khan

    I'm Every Woman

    • NOW Boogie Nights - Disco Classics (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • The Colour Field

    Thinking Of You

    • The Singles.
    • Connoisseur Collection.
  • Ike & Tina Turner

    Nutbush City Limits

    • The Greatest Hits Of 1973 (Various).
    • EMI.
  • Diana Ross

    Upside Down

    • And They Danced The Night Away Volume 2 CD2.
    • Debutante.
  • Starship

    We Built This City

    • Now 1985 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
    • 1.
  • Gabrielle

    Stop Right Now

    • Do It Again.
    • BMG Rights Management (UK).
  • David Guetta

    Titanium (feat. Sia)

    • (CD Single).
    • Positiva.
  • Enrique Iglesias

    Bailamos

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
  • Hanson

    MMMBop

    • Now 37 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Bee Gees

    You Should Be Dancing

    • Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits.
    • Polydor.
  • Justin Bieber

    Hold On

    • JUSTICE.
    • Def Jam Recordings.
  • Roy Orbison

    Oh, Pretty Woman

    • Fifty Number Ones Of The 60's (Variou.
    • Global Television.
    • 16.
  • Whitney Houston

    I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

    • Whitney Houston - Whitney.
    • Arista.
  • Dua Lipa

    We're Good

    • Future Nostalgia (The Moonlight Edition).
    • Warner Records.
  • The Supernaturals

    Smile

    • Q The Album (Various Artists).
    • Virgin.
  • Jonas Brothers

    X (feat. KAROL G)

    • (CD Single).
    • Republic Records.
  • David Bowie

    Modern Love

    • David Bowie - Best Of Bowie.
    • EMI.
  • Emily Burns

    Is It Just Me? (Radio 2 Session, 19 Mar 2021) (feat. JP Cooper)

  • Emily Burns

    Islands In The Stream (Radio 2 Session, 19 Mar 21) (feat. JP Cooper)

  • McFly

    You're Not Special

    • Young Dumb Thrills.
    • BMG.
  • Norma Jean

    Saturday

    • Norma Jean.
    • Sequel.
    • 4.
  • McFadden & Whitehead

    Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now

    • Million Sellers Vol.19 - The Seventie.
    • Disky.
  • The Osmonds

    Crazy Horses

    • The Very Best Of The Osmonds.
    • Polydor.
  • Foo Fighters

    Learn To Fly

    • Greatest Hits.
    • RCA.
  • Luke Combs

    Forever After All

    • What You See Ain't Always What You Get (Deluxe Edition).
    • River House Artists.
  • Shalamar

    I Can Make You Feel Good

    • Friends - Deluxe Edition.
    • Big Break Records.
    • 4.

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

This week鈥檚 my 20th听anniversary since I started stand-up comedy. 2000 gigs later, nobody ever wants to know about the good gigs, so forget the Albert Hall story... Instead I鈥檓 often asked about the worst. My worst gig wasn鈥檛 a booing heckling nightmare. Worse than that: they ignored me.

2002, Balham: The gig was nice. But two lads in the front row had seen my act just a week before 鈥 and I only had one set of jokes. They remembered it word-for-word, and thought they were helping out by yelling out my punchlines. Within a minute, the packed audience thought these hecklers were hilarious 鈥 cos I was doing the setups, and they did all the punchlines. I lost the crowd, and slowly heard this wave of chat from back row to front. For 19 more minutes, I persisted, with an audience who鈥檇 decided it was the interval.听

Give me heckles any day of the week 鈥 at least they鈥檙e not ignoring you.

Charlie Chaplin said, 鈥淟ife is a tragedy seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.鈥 Mel Brooks put it another way: 鈥淭ragedy鈥檚 when I cut my finger. Comedy鈥檚 when you fall into an open sewer鈥.

I often think of God having both that zoomed-out wide view of life鈥檚 canvas, seeing the connections, joys, and laughter.听But also the close-up, when it gets serious, when the world seems to ignore. Turning a solo act into a double act in an otherwise lonely spotlight.

But I think it鈥檚 a human thing too: laughing together at life鈥檚 comedy, but not ignoring life鈥檚 tragedies, coming alongside those who need it 鈥 especially on Red Nose Day.

If life鈥檚 a comedy, it doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 laugh-a-minute 鈥 just that good can outweigh bad, light outshining darkness. The heavy stuff can feel lighter, if we all help with a bit of lifting.

And that punchline yeller in Balham? Amazingly, I bumped into him ten years later. He apologised that his mate and him got a bit carried away. We made up, and laughed about it. Well he did.听

Maybe it鈥檚 all a comedy in long-shot, and who knows, on听Red Nose Day, if we all play our part, we can enjoy the comic, but to those who need it, give that relief.

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Mar 2021 06:30