November 13, 1995
Web posted at: 11:35 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Jim Moret
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Six-time hosts Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams returned Saturday night to make it number seven for Comic Relief -- a benefit to aid homeless people in America, telecast on HBO. (64K AIFF sound or 64K WAV sound)
As with past Comic Reliefs, the show was a who's who in comedy -- a four-hour laugh-a-thon with comic as well as sober reminders of the real purpose of the night.
On the comic side: "I guess the worst thing about being homeless is you'll never really be able to enjoy camping," quipped Paul Rodriguez, while Heather Locklear took the serious side.
"To some parents, especially the single mothers who make up a third of the homeless population, shopping for baby clothes as well as getting food and finding shelter are terribly frightening challenges, rather than simple pleasures," she said.
In the benefits' seven year history, $30 million has been raised, but comic Robert Klein said the millions have not solved the problem.
"Tragically, 30 million is just a drop in the bucket," he said. "There's still plenty of homelessness."
In addition to seeking donations from the television audience, Nike sponsored a taped comic sports challenge between Billy Crystal and tennis ace Andre Agassi, with Carl Reiner serving as the official.
The night of often unusual moments also included Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's national singing debut. (64K AIFF sound or 64K WAV sound)
Of course, the recently completed "trial of century" was a frequent topic with the comics. (1M QuickTime movie)
"Juice says he's going to spend the rest of his life looking for the murderer of Nicole," said Dennis Miller. "Evidently he thinks a caddie did it."
In one of the more serious moments of the evening, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy received the first ever "Where There's Laughter There's Hope" Award. And backstage, the entertainers echoed the sentiment that laughter is a strong medicine.
"No matter what's wrong in your life, if you're laughing it's not wrong at that time," said Chris Rock.
"It makes you feel good to be a comic on this night -- that you can do something that's good," said Sinbad.
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