TV comics face a waxing in Comic Relief stunt
Frank Skinner and Jimmy Carr face being waxed live on TV by Denise Van Outen as a charity forfeit during this year's Comic Relief. Also aiming to avoid the painful punishment are Stephen Fry and Al Murray in a stunt for Comic Relief. Each of the funnymen has been honoured with a new flavour of Walkers crisps which are being sold as part of the Clash of the Comics campaign to raise £1 million for the charity. The biggest-selling star will avoid the punishment, but the three others will be subject to a hair-erasing moment at the hands of Denise Van Outen. She will wax them on TV for Red Nose Day on March 18. Frank, whose flavour is Frank Roast Dinner, said: "The big upside of this is that Walkers will give five pence for every bag sold to Comic Relief. So even though, inevitably, three of us will suffer horribly, we will change lives." He added: "The terrible forfeit is something that perhaps a lot of people would think would be brilliant. "It involves Denise Van Outen in a very, very short, slightly starched, white clinical uniform, and you think 'Oh great', because she's a very attractive woman, but she will be waxing the victims. "So it's nice to meet Denise Van Outen, but not when she's actually incurring quite a lot of physical pain on you." Stephen is championing the Stephen Fry Up while Jimmy has the Jimmy Con Carrne flavour and Al has a Steak And Al Pie variety. To find out more about Comic Relief and this year's Red Nose Day which takes place on Friday, March 18 visit rednoseday.com.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.