 | |
| Successor | Comic Relief, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Founder | Bob Zmuda |
| Dissolved | 2011 |
| Type | charity |
| 501(c)(3) non-profit | |
| Focus | Food, housing, health care, and other assistance for the homeless |
| Location |
|
Area served | United States and occasionally other parts of the world |
| Method | Comedy |
Key people | Bob Zmuda and hosts Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, and Robin Williams |
Revenue | Donations from Americans |
Comic Relief USA was a non-profit charity organization whose mission was to raise funds to help those in need—particularly America's homeless. It has raised and distributed nearly US$50 million toward providing assistance—including health care services—to homeless people throughout the United States. Although Comic Relief's charity work is continuous, its fundraising events were held and televised at irregular intervals—and primarily by Home Box Office (HBO), with comedians Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, and Whoopi Goldberg as the hosts each time. They—along with many other comedians, celebrities, and occasional politicians—perform various segments—both general-purpose and specific to homelessness—of standup comedy, sketch comedy, speeches, live music, and impressions of persons and characters—all in order to entertain and enlighten. There are also documentary segments dealing with real-life problems of homeless people, in order to raise awareness of not only the realities but also how many hard-working "ordinary" people can wind up or grow up homeless. In exchange for contributions exceeding certain key amounts, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandise are typically for sale. Its slogans are “Where there’s laughter, there’s hope” and “Comic Relief—it’s no joke.”