Mark Watson prepares for 27 hour Comic Relief gig
Mark Watson is preparing to present an 'epic' 27 hour comedy gig for Red Nose Day.
Kicking off on Friday 27th February at 9pm, the stand-up comedian will be performing for 27 hours non-stop at the Pleasance Theatre in London.
Watson first took on an endurance show for Comic Relief in 2013, performing for 25 hours in total. This time he's performing for an extra two hours, to help celebrate 27 years of Red Nose Day.
Streaming live on YouTube across the UK, Mark Watson's 27 Hour Comedy Marathon will be one of the longest events ever staged for Red Nose Day.
The organisers say: "It'll be packed with celebrity guests, spontaneous mayhem, planned mayhem, and one slightly delirious man being funny for a very, very long time."
Watson will be joined by fellow stand-up Susan Calman. She will be taking on her very own 27 Hour challenge - arriving dressed as Tootsie, then dressing as a different person every hour using only what the audience can provide for a costume.
Guest comedians already confirmed as attending for stints are Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe, Rufus Hound and Sarah Millican.
Comic Relief explains: "Mark is reaching out to the great British public to get involved too with their own fundraising challenges as part of his 27 Hour Comedy Marathon. Be it baking, boogieing, backgammon, or back-flipping, Mark is calling upon the nation to take on something daft and raise heaps of cash for Red Nose Day."
Fundraising feats during the 2013 gig included a man who had a custard pie smashed in his face every hour on the hour (whilst trying to learn piano), a 25 hour hug (which went on to become an official Guinness World Record) and a 25 hour piggy back. BCG documented the gig via a live blog
Talking about how people can raise funds this time, Watson says: "Just watching for the whole, increasingly maniacal 27 hours is a challenge in itself, so if people do nothing else, they could get sponsored for that. But really anything goes. And the more outlandish the better. We have some amazing stunts suggested for this time round. But we want more.
"It's going to be quite a night. And day. And another night. But alongside all of this, the show is about money (for Comic Relief of course. Apparently I don't get paid - I know, unbelievable). So I'm asking the public to join my fundraising team by doing their own ridiculous challenges. Who will take on some sort of epic, self-imposed challenge just like me?"
To find out more about how to sponsor Mark and to see video highlights from the 2013 gig, visit rednoseday.com/markwatson
Below is the video trailer: