Comedy's a goldmine for hospices

8:40am Monday 21st April 2008

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HUNDREDS of comedy fans squeezed into Oxford's New Theatre to see a star-studded show in aid of charity last night.

Tickets for Childish Things 4 sold out more than a month in advance. Theatre-goers stood excitedly outside the doors of the George Street theatre eagerly awaiting to be ushered inside as they prepared for an evening of laughter.

The bill, which was in aid of Helen and Douglas House hospices in East Oxford, included Jimmy Carr, Bill Bailey, Jeremy Clarkson, and 22-year-old singer-songwriter Ally Craig from Grove, near Wantage, who has stayed at the hospice and Oxford band Cogwheel Dogs.

Organisers were hoping last night's event would top last year's £40,000 total.

Previous Childish Things stars who have appeared in Oxford include Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy, Rob Brydon, Alan Davies, Rory McGrath, Harry Enfield and Oxford band Radiohead. Childish Things events have raised tens of thousands of pounds for the specialist hospices, but will now take place every other year to avoid a clash with Comic Relief.