*Stop Press!*
We are very excited to now be able to announce that Michael McIntyre will be appearing on both Tuesday and Wednesday nights of this year's Childish Things!
Some of the stars performing alongside Michael over our 3 nights of music and comedy include Jamie Cullum, KT Tunstall, and Jimmy Carr!
Monday, 27th February - Music night.
Jamie Cullum, KT Tunstall, Eliza Doolittle, Beardyman, and flamenco guitarist Rafael. Also appearing will be Pete Lawrie, Oxford musician Theo Jackson and Douglas House guest & Childish Things regular, Ally Craig.
Tuesday, 28th February - Comedy & music night
Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr, the Comedy Store Players, Jason Byrne, Out of the Blue, Marcel Lucont, Matt Richardson, and Jarred Christmas
Wednesday 29th February - Comedy & music night
Michael McIntyre, Jason Manford, Andi Osho, Isy Suttie, Jo Caulfield, Out of the Blue, Marcel Lucont, Matt Richardson, and Lloyd Langford
Ticket information
You can buy tickets directly from the New Theatre, or from Helen & Douglas House shops in Abingdon, Chipping Norton,Thame, Wallingford, and Witney. Click here to find out where our shops are.
For information about next year’s show, check this page or follow us on Twitter @helenanddouglas and on Facebook.
Last year's event saw Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr, James Corden, Miranda Hart, Philip Selway and Beardyman, as well as many others, help to raise over £80,000 for the hospice.
See a gallery of photos from last year's nights here.
Click here to read a review of the event from the Oxford Mail.
A little bit of history......
The first Childish Things was held way back in 2004 and was the brainchild of actor Tom Hollander, whose niece is a visitor to Helen House.
He decided he wanted to do something to help raise funds for the hospice so got some of his friends together for a one-off benefit evening at the Oxford Playhouse. Little did we know when he set about this what would follow!
That initial show was more than any of us could have dreamed of - Jeremy Irons, Sinead Cusack, Sir John Mortimer, Griff Rhys Jones, Hugh Laurie, Steve Coogan, Mel & Sue, Sir Michael Gambon, Jamie Theakston were just a few of the famous faces that appeared that night. We even had Bill Nighy singing the final number, accompanied by Radiohead! For some the highlight was when Jude Law removed the shirt he was wearing to be used as an additional auction item! All in all, the seed was sown for what has since become one of Oxford’s best kept secrets.
After a move to the larger New Theatre, Childish Things has become a landmark on the Oxford theatre calendar. Each year we set about asking a new list of performers - some years we don’t know our final line-up until the week before the show, which can be nerve-wracking!
The role call reads like the Who’s Who of British Comedy: Jimmy Carr, Rob Brydon, Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, and Sean Lock are just a handful of the headline names that Childish Things audiences have enjoyed. We staged the only live QI on stage, when Stephen Fry and Alan Davies hosted the popular show exclusively as part of the evening’s entertainment. We have forged a strong link with Oxford’s amazing acapella group, Out of the Blue, who one year flew back specially from the United States in order to do the show, some of them walking through the Stage Door quite literally 30 seconds before they were due on stage! One of the biggest surprises for our loyal supporters was the year when Rowan Atkinson joined us to do stand-up, and was a total surprise to the audience. There was an audible gasp when he appeared in a spotlight on the stage, before an enormous barrage of applause!
