I find comedian Russell Brand to be a real conundrum. Is he a unique, anarchic, talented comedian? Or just an irritating, overly-sexed, show-off?
I liked Brand's reckless, anarchic presenting of Big Brother's Big Mouth, before it became self-indulgent twaddle. I quite enjoyed his MTV chat-show 1 Leicester Square, dependent on who the guests were. I hated everything on TV he did for E4. I subscribe to the podcast of his pre-recorded Radio 2 show. I like elements of his stand-up material, but find his persona grows tiresome after 10 minutes. He's best when there's an outside influence to keep him focused. Perhaps that's why he's on best form for radio, with co-host/friend Matt Morgan able to puncture his massive ego and keep his ramblings on-track.
Only now he's gone to the USA, co-starring in Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- the latest Judd Apatow-produced sex comedy, where he plays eccentric English rock-star Aldous Snow. It's hardly a stretch for him, but he's been getting good reviews. And, being a patriotic guy, I love it when any Brit goes to America and causes a stir: be it Ricky Gervais grabbing Emmy's while evolving the sitcom with The Office, or Sacha Baron Cohen stunning everyone with his brass-neck in Borat. Even Helen Mirren and Daniel Day Lewis getting Oscars fills me with pride.
So are we going to add Russell Brand to that list of "local lad done good"?
Well, the signs are promising. His toned-down appearance on Jay Leno went down well (Yanks seem to love the way Brits can twist the language in amusing ways), his Sarah Marshall role has resulted in a decent music video pastiche, and a scene of Aldous Snow trying to present a Sesame Street-style kid's show is a hit on YouTube. Faint praise, but y'know what I mean...
His star seems to be ascending Stateside already. He's currently filming fantasy-comedy Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler (about a handyman whose bedtime stories start to come true), there are plans for him to team-up with Superbad star Jonah Hill in a comedy, and his best-selling autobiography My Booky Wook
is being adapted into a film by Michael Winterbottom!Good luck to him I say. I can't see him surviving very long in films (can he play anything other than himself?), but he's certainly a quirky presence Americans will react to, and there are worse people to be flying the flag for Britain...
