Russell Brand brings his controversial show to Australia

Cameron Adams
February 05, 2009 12:00am

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25011974-2902,00.html

FOR UK comedian and rising Hollywood player Russell Brand, slating George W Bush,

mocking the Jonas Brothers, meant death threats from fans of both.

The backlash from his celebrity-baiting MTV hosting slot last September -- where he called Bush ‘‘a retarded cowboy fella'', not to be ‘‘trusted with scissors'' -- paled in comparison with
‘‘Manuelgate'', where Brand overnight became public enemy No.1 in the UK media.

It started innocently enough. Last October serial pantsman Brand invited UK TV star Jonathan Ross on to his weekly BBC Radio 2 show as a guest co-host.

The pair, friends away from the microphones, were supposed to interview Andrew Sachs, best known for playing Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

When Sachs didn't answer his phone, the pair left a rambling answering-machine message in which Ross managed to mention, in fairly lewd terms, that Brand had bedded Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie.

The late-night radio program aired initially with only two complaints about Ross's swearing; regular listeners were used to hearing about Brand's various female conquests and nocturnal japes.

But when the UK media picked it up a week later -- and promoted links to the broadcast -- the story exploded and belated complaints came flooding in.

Within a week Brand quit his radio show, Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas resigned and Ross was suspended from the BBC without pay for 12 weeks, losing some of the cash that was part of his extraordinary $40 million, three-year TV and radio contract with the Beeb.

‘‘I've apologised to Andrew Sachs, I admire him,'' Brand says now. ‘‘I didn't mean to be offensive to him but sometimes you get carried away.''

Brand has used Manuelgate, and his MTV experience, as the basis for his new stand-up show Scandalous -- his first to visit Australia.

‘‘It's so interesting,'' Brand says. ‘‘I'd have talked about both of those events even if I'd not been involved in them. They were fascinating affairs.

‘‘The stuff that happened in America after I made the comments about George W. Bush was interesting. I got death threats and things like that, that's pretty amazing.

‘‘And the BBC -- the stuff that happened afterwards was unbelievable. The amount of media attention it got -- the British Prime Minister talked about it. It was insane.''

Brand is not only part of the media -- he's written columns in the UK and hosted a string of UK TV shows as well as his radio work -- he's a student of it too.

In his stand-up shows, he has dissected the machinations of stories in UK newspapers -- quite often involving one of his conquests selling their story in a kiss and sell.

‘‘If you're part of the media and you're fascinated by the media it's mental when you become the centre of it,'' Brand says.

‘‘When the kiss-and-tell stories happened when I was first famous it was mad. I used to read newspapers anyway and analyse the way they spoke about things, the way they emboldened certain words and the way information is relayed.

‘‘I'm fascinated by communication in general. So when such an extreme case comes up that involves yourself, it's pretty scintillating to deconstruct.''

Which is where Scandalous comes in.

Days after his resignation, Brand was stalked by the British paparazzi.

When he flew to Los Angeles, stories surfaced about him escaping the UK.

‘‘I was going to LA to do a film that had been arranged for ages,'' Brand clarifies. ‘‘If you say ‘He's hiding in LA' that's negative. If you say ‘He's going to LA to make a Shakespeare movie (The Tempest) with Helen Mirren' that's brilliant. And that's what was happening.

‘‘I was going there anyway. You can't arrange a film with Helen Mirren at a week's notice -- she's very busy.''

Brand plays some of the audio from Manuelgate in Scandalous -- he's particularly proud of rhyming ‘‘menstrual'' with ‘‘consensual'' during a song left on the lengthy answering-machine message. ‘‘That was off the top of my head,'' he says.

The star says the incident has not changed his way of working.

‘‘Interestingly it enhances your relationship with reality. I know what's real, I know who I am, I know what I want and these things must remain uninfluenced by the ephemera around it.

‘‘The reality doesn't change, people's perspectives changed. Of the actual people I speak to, no one's ever said a single negative thing about it. Everyone says, ‘That got blown out of proportion didn't it?'

‘‘I'm not seeking to say anything other than it was wrong, I apologise, but that's not that interesting. What was interesting was what surrounds it.''

Brand is open about his huge ego and narcissism -- as well as his sensitive side that sees him take criticism badly.

Manuelgate saw him gain more attention than ever -- but not all of it positive. 

‘‘It was so huge it became utterly abstract,'' Brand says. ‘‘Even given the egotism I have, I thought ‘This cannot be about me, Russell, the vegetarian from Essex who has a cat'. I'm just a normal bloke. It must be about something else. That made me able to view it objectively, it was too absurd to be about me. It's certainly made for some good stand-up comedy.''

Pressed, Brand has several theories on what happened -- and why he was caught up in the middle of it.

‘‘Perhaps there was an element of tall poppy syndrome with the UK media. It was a time of economic crisis, the papers got bored reporting economic decline. There was an element of people going to print media less and less so newspapers have to define their identity.

‘‘I think the privately owned media had an agenda to destroy the publicly funded BBC which is ongoing. The BBC will inevitably become a commercial channel. People are now more inclined to click on a website to complain about something they read in the Daily Mail. People feel they have a vested interest to be involved in TV programming, which is probably a positive thing.

‘‘So a lot of factors came together. Really what it was about was me doing something offensive, for which I apologised. It was rude. But what happened beyond that can't be about the original incident.''

Until Manuelgate, Brand had had a fairly charmed run with the British media -- even with his chequered past.

His best-selling autobiography My Booky Wook graphically documented how his ‘‘internal deficit of longing and sadness'' ultimately led him to alcohol, crack and then heroin addiction and the petty crime associated with it.

‘‘I always knew it'd be the one, because it was the only drug that did what was promised,'' Brand wrote of heroin.

He also developed a sideline sex addiction.

Despite his habits, Brand still managed to work in TV. Things came to a head when he got a job at MTV UK -- problematically based in Camden Town, where his drug dealer worked.

It was September 12, 2002. Brand was working on an MTV afternoon show and decided -- in his heroin haze -- to come to work dressed as Osama bin Laden.

He smoked crack in the toilet with his dealer, who he then introduced to his guest on the show that afternoon -- Kylie Minogue.

Brand was sacked two days later.

My Booky Wook details his several bouts of rehabilitation to kick heroin -- finally getting clean in 2003.

Last year he was planning to play himself in a film version of My Booky Wook -- to be directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Those plans are on hold -- with Brand scoffing at rumours it was to keep his Class A past hidden from Americans who have just discovered him through such movies as Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he plays an exaggerated version of himself.

‘‘I'm doing loads of other movies,'' Brand says. ‘‘I have to play myself every day anyway, so I'm not going to make that film for a little while. I might get someone else to play me now.''

His US film breakthrough came in Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- stealing the show as sex-obsessed, rehabbed British rock star Aldous Snow.

The film's creators changed the character to be not-so-loosely based on Brand after his first audition.

After wrapping The Tempest with the ‘‘amazing, gorgeous, wonderful'' Helen Mirren, Brand's next role will see him recreate Snow in the spin-off movie Get Him to the Greek.

Brand and Jonah Hill star in the movie, again produced by Judd Apatow, which follows Snow falling back into a chemical lifestyle. Hill is a fan who tries to clean him up before a gig at LA's Greek Theatre.

‘‘I enjoy playing him,'' Brand says of Snow.

‘‘It's a good aspect of myself to highlight. It'll be interesting to get back into that destructive, self-indulgent insanity now he's back on drugs.''

After a role in Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories, Brand says he has been offered a role in a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel and confirms he'll take the lead role in a remake of the Dudley Moore hit Arthur: ‘‘That's exciting.''

The high Hollywood workload is something Brand has been aiming for -- he's now partly based in LA and has the obligatory high-profile publicist and agent.

Though he's had therapy for sex addiction, Brand stopped his bed-hopping last year for a relationship with Australian Teresa Palmer, who he met on the set of Bedtime Stories.

The pair even watched Port Power at the MCG with Palmer's parents. ‘‘They didn't win that day, they were drubbed,'' Brand says. ‘‘I enjoyed it though, it was a mad sport.''

He's planning to inject some of his Australian knowledge into a local version of Scandalous.

‘‘Australia warrants its own personal show in many respects and it will get it,'' Brand says.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was filmed in Hawaii and Brand says his lack of fame there at the time made finding women for sexual encounters ‘‘very difficult''.

Despite getting recognised -- mainly by expat Brits -- during his Australian trip last year, he's preparing for the worst.

‘‘It'll be interesting to discover,'' Brand says. ‘‘At worst I'll have to rely on my personality.''

Brand was quoted recently saying he's burned out drugs and is on the verge of burning out sex -- with estimates he beds three women a day, making him the Gene Simmons of comedy.

‘‘I wouldn't mind arriving at a point where I'm just in harmony with the moment, not in any way
dependent on external things other than food and oxygen,'' Brand says. ‘‘It's distracting when you spend all your time pursuing stuff, it's all meaningless anyway.''

So his message to the ladies of Australia on his tour in March?

‘‘The ladies of Australia need not worry. I've not reached enlightenment just yet. I'm still some distance from that.'' 

Russell Brand, Hamer Hall, March 20, $79.90, Ticketmaster.

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Russell Brand in 2007
Russell Brand
Click here for Russell Brand's MySpace Page To find out more about Russell Brand

Russell Edward Brand^[1] (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, columnist and presenter of radio and television.

Brand achieved mainstream fame in the UK for presenting a Big Brother spin-off, Big Brother's Big Mouth, and for his radio show, among other television series and award ceremonies. He has also appeared in a number of films, including the romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, St Trinian's and Bedtime Stories.

Brand is noted for his unusual fashion preferences, and he has described himself as resembling "an S&M Willy Wonka". He is also noted for various controversies that have surrounded him in the British media, such as the 2008 prank calls that led to his resignation from the BBC

Early life

Brand was born in Grays, Essex, England, the only child of Barbara Elizabeth (née Nichols) and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer.^[2] His parents separated when Brand was six months old. His mother brought him up on her own, giving Brand a somewhat isolated and lonely childhood.^[3]

Brand made his theatrical debut at age 15 as "Fat Sam" in a school production of Bugsy Malone. After this Brand decided he wanted to be an actor. He began working as an extra and applied to study at the Italia Conti Academy. He was accepted, and Essex council funded his tuition for an introductory year, with potential funding for three additional years. Brand joined the academy in 1991. During this time he began smoking cannabis, became bulimic, and eventually took LSD. Brand was expelled during his introductory year for his behaviour. Afterward Brand had small acting roles in the children's show Mud and in The Bill.

In 1995 Brand applied for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and Drama Centre London and was accepted to Drama Centre. By this point he was a heroin addict and an alcoholic. He was expelled in the final term of his final year for smashing a glass over his head and then stabbing himself in the chest and arms because of poor reactions to one of his performances. After leaving Drama Centre, Brand decided to focus on comedy and began writing material with Karl Theobald, whom he met at Drama Centre. They formed a short-lived double act, Theobald and Brand on Ice.

Career

Brand's first significant stand-up appearance was at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year final in 2000. Although he finished fourth, his performance attracted the attention of an agent, Nigel Klarfeld of Gagged and Bound Comedy Ltd.^[4] That same year he made his Edinburgh debut as one third of the stand-up show Pablo Diablo's Cryptic Triptych alongside ventriloquist Mark Felgate and Anglo-Iranian comic Shappi Khorsandi.

In 2004, he also took his first one-man show, the confessional Better Now, to the Edinburgh Festival, giving an honest account of his heroin addiction. He returned the following year with Eroticised Humour. His first nationwide tour Shame, was in 2006 and drew on embarrassing incidents in Brand's life and the tabloid press's treatment of him since he became famous. The show released on DVD as Russell Brand: Live. His second nationwide tour was in 2007 and titled Russell Brand: Only Joking and released on DVD as Russell Brand: Doin' Life.

Brand appeared in a sketch and performed stand-up at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball. In March 2007, he co-hosted an evening of the Teenage Cancer Trust gigs with Noel Fielding. On 3 December 2007 Brand performed for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip as an act in the 2007 Royal Variety Performance.

Because of his filming schedule in America, Brand has began performing stand-up there as well and has recorded a special for Comedy Central that will air in February 2009.^[5] Brand began touring the UK in January/February 2009 on a 26 date tour called Russell Brand: Scandalous.^[6]

During a performance at the Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton in July 2008, Brand made a hoax call claiming he had spotted a man responsible for a series of assaults. Brand issued an apology for his actions.^[7]

Presenting

Brand's first presenting role came in 2000 as a VJ on music channel MTV presenting Dance Floor Chart, in which he toured the nightclubs of Britain and Ibiza, and the hosted teatime request show Select. However he was fired after coming to work dressed as Osama bin Laden the day after the September 11, 2001 attacks and bringing his drug dealer to the MTV studios.^[8]

After MTV, Brand featured in RE:Brand, a British documentary and comedy television programme that aimed to take a challenging look at cultural taboos. It was conceived, written and hosted by Brand, with the help of his comic partner for many projects, Matt Morgan. The series was shown on the now defunct digital satellite channel UK Play in 2002.

In 2004, he hosted Big Brother's Eforum on E4, a sister show to Big Brother 5. The show gave celebrity guests and the public the chance to have their say on the goings-on inside the Big Brother house. For Big Brother 6 the show's name changed to Big Brother's Big Mouth. Following Celebrity Big Brother 5, Brand said he would not return to host the Big Brother 8 series of Big Brother's Big Mouth; in a statement Brand thanked all the producers for "taking the risk of employing an ex-junkie twerp" to front the show and of his time presenting the show, he said: "The three years I've spent on Big Brother's Big Mouth have been an unprecedented joy."^[9] Brand hosted a one-off special called Big Brother According to Russell Brand in which Brand takes a surreal, sideways look at Big Brother through the ages. On 8 January 2008, Brand was the fifth celebrity to hijack the Big Brother house,^[10] in the E4 show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

Brand returned to MTV in the spring of 2006 as presenter of the chat show 1 Leicester Square initially going out at 8 p.m. on Sundays before being shifted to a post-watershed time of 10 p.m. on Mondays, allowing a more adult theme to the show. Guests have included Tom Cruise, Uma Thurman, The Mighty Boosh and Boy George. A second series began in September 2006 on MTV UK. After Big Brother 7 finished, Brand presented a debate show called Russell Brand's Got Issues, on digital channel E4. The viewing figures for the first episode were seen as disappointing, being beaten by nearly all of E4's main multi-channel rivals, despite a big publicity and promotional campaign for the show. Because of the poor ratings the show was repackaged as The Russell Brand Show and moved to Channel 4.^[11] The first episode was broadcast on 24 November, on Channel 4^[12] and the show ran for five weeks.

Brand presented the 2006 NME Awards, and was famously called a "cunt" by Bob Geldof, to which Brand replied, "Really it's no surprise he's [Geldof] such an expert on famine he has after all been dining out on, "I Don't Like Mondays," for 30 years."^[13] Brand hosted the 2007 BRIT Awards and presented Oasis with their Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the event.^[14] He also hosted one hour of Comic Relief. On 7 July 2007, he presented at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.

A documentary presented by Brand and Matt Morgan about the writer Jack Kerouac and his novel On the Road called Russell Brand On the Road aired on 12 December 2007 on BBC Four.

Brand returned to Channel 4 to host Russell Brand's Ponderland, in which he discusses various topics like childhood and science through stand-up comedy. The show first aired on 22 October 2007, and was on for the following five nights. A second series began on 30 October 2008, drawing in over 1 million viewers, and was broadcast every Thursday night for a further 4 weeks with a Christmas special to air in December.

Brand was announced as the host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards which caused scepticism from the American media as he was relatively unknown to the American public. Brand's stint as host of the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards was not without controversy.^[15] At one point, he said the night, "marked the launch of a very new Britney Spears era," referring to it as, "the resurrection of [Spears]," and, "if there was a female Christ, it's Britney."^[16] Brand implored the audience to elect Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and later called U.S. President George W. Bush, "a retarded cowboy fella," who in England, "wouldn't be trusted with scissors."^[16][17] He made several references to the purity rings worn by the Jonas Brothers, but later in the show, apologised for those comments.^[18] Brand claims MTV have asked him to host the 2009 awards after the ratings for the 2008 show were 20% up from the previous year.^[19]

Acting

In 2002, he filmed roles in the television comedy dramas Cruise of the Gods (although he was fired during the filming) and White Teeth. In 2005 he played Tommy in the BBC sitcom Blessed which was written and directed by Ben Elton. He auditioned for the part of Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, but was rejected by the writers in favour of Matt King.^[20]

In 2007, Brand played a recovering crack addict called "Terry," in the pilot for ITV comedy The Abbey, written by Morwenna Banks.^[21] The Abbey was commissioned for a full series to be shown on ITV2. Filming was due to begin in January 2008 but the series has since been cancelled. Also that year, he appeared in Cold Blood for ITV playing an ex-con called Ally.

He filmed a small role in 2006 for Penelope. Brand's first major film role was as Flash Harry in the 2007 film St Trinian's, although it is not known if he will reprise the role for the upcoming sequel St Trinian's: The Legend of Fritton's Gold. His breakthrough role was in the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in which he played Aldous Snow, the boyfriend of the title character (played by Kristen Bell). Brand received rave reviews for his performance as Snow and revealed the character was changed from a Author to Rock Star because of his audition.^[22] He will again play the character of Aldous Snow for a buddy comedy entitled Get Him to the Greek, co-starring Jonah Hill.^[23] He is reuniting with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow for the film also.^[24] It is described in Variety Magazine as a "very dirty take on Almost Famous".

Brand starred alongside Adam Sandler in the Disney film Bedtime Stories, that was released on Christmas 2008.^[25] Sandler has cast Brand in another film and will produce another, co-written by Brand and Matt Morgan, about a conman posing as a priest tentatively called Bad Father.^[26][27] Brand will appear in Julie Taymor's version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest as Trinculo.^[28] Brand will also appear in an Oliver Stone film^[29] and is in talks to star in a remake of Arthur with Brand playing the title character.^[30]

Radio

Brand's radio career began in early 2002, when he hosted a Sunday afternoon show with Matt Morgan on London's Indie Rock station Xfm. Brand was fired from this job after reading out pornographic material live on-air.

Brand co-hosted The Russell Brand Show since it began in April 2006 on BBC 6Music. In November 2006, the show transferred to BBC Radio 2 and aired on Saturdays from 9pm until 11pm. The show regularly had around 400,000 listeners.^[31] In an episode of the show broadcast on 18 October 2008, Brand and fellow Radio 2 DJ, Jonathan Ross, made a series of phone calls to the actor Andrew Sachs. Sunday tabloid The Mail on Sunday broke the story and regarded the phone calls as obscene. Both presenters were later suspended by the BBC due to the incident,^[32] and Brand resigned from his show.^[33][34]

Writings

Brand has written a column in The Guardian since May 2006 which centres around his admiration of West Ham United and the England national football team. A collection of the columns from May 2006 until June 2007 was released on 15 November 2007 in a book entitled Irons in the Fire.^[35] A second collection of the columns for the 2007/2008 season was released on 16 October 2008 and is called Articles of Faith. It also includes Brand interviewing Noel Gallagher, James Corden and David Baddiel about football.^[36]

Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook, published by Hodder & Stoughton, was released on 15 November 2007. The book gained a positive reception upon release. The Observer commented that "Russell Brand's gleeful tale of drugs and debauchery in My Booky Wook puts most other celebrity memoirs to shame."^[37] Brand was to play himself in a film adaptation of his autobiography, to be directed by Michael Winterbottom, but the project has since been shelved by Brand, who did not want American audiences to learn of his "chequered past" without reading the book first.^[38][39]

He signed a £1.8 million two-book deal with HarperCollins in June 2008. The first book was Articles of Faith., with the second expected to be released in 2009.^[40][41]

Music

Brand recorded a cover of The Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four" with Grammy Award-winning composer David Arnold for the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as Aldous Snow lead singer of the fictional band, "Infant Sorrow".^[42]

Personal life

Brand lives in Hampstead, London,^[43] with his cat, which he named after the singer Morrissey, of whom Brand is a big fan.^[44]

He has been a vegetarian since the age of 14,^[45]and is also a fan of football, and a supporter of West Ham United; he says that his love of football is "intrinsically about my relationship with my father."^[46] He dresses in a flamboyant bohemian fashion describing himself as looking like an "S&M Willy Wonka."^[47] He has bipolar disorder,^[48] and has suffered from bulimia in the past.^[45] He also went through a period of self-harm.^[49]

He is a former heroin and sex addict, recovering alcoholic and has had numerous run-ins with the police, having been arrested 11 times^[50] During the time of his addiction, he was known for his debauchery, a notable example being his ejection from The Gilded Balloon, in Edinburgh.^[51] He has abstained from drug use since 2002 and is now a patron of the addiction charity Focus 12.^[52] His abandonment of drugs and alcohol was instigated by his agent John Noel after he was caught taking heroin in a toilet during his Christmas party.^[53] Brand regularly attends AA and NA meetings.^[54]

Brand has a reputation in the media of being a ladies' man after a string of high profile relationships and because of this has won The Sun's Shagger Of The Year in 2006^[55], 2007^[56] and 2008. The award has been renamed the The Russell Brand Shagger Of The Year Award in honour of Brand winning three years in a row^[57]

 

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Note
2007	St Trinian's	Flash Harry
2008	Penelope	Sam
	Forgetting Sarah Marshall	Aldous Snow
	Bedtime Stories	Mickey
2009	The Tempest	Trinculo[58]	filming
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Aldous Snow[59]	pre-production
	Despicable Me[60]	TBA	pre-production

Awards

Year	Ceremony	Award	Result
2006	Time Out	Best Stand-Up	Won[61]
2006	Loaded Laftas	Best Stand-Up	Won[62]
2006	British Comedy Awards	Best Newcomer	Won[63]
2007	33rd Annual Television and Radio Awards	Best Television Performer In A Non-Acting Role	Won[64]
2007	Channel 4	100 Greatest Stand-Ups	69th[65]
2008	British Book Awards	Biography of the Year	Won[66]
2008	British Comedy Awards	Best Live Stand-Up	Won[67]

Further reading

• Brand, Russell (2008). Articles Of Faith. London: HarperCollins.. ISBN 978-0007298815. 
• Brand, Russell (2007). Iron in the Fire. London: Hodder & Stoughton.. ISBN 978-0340961360. 
• Brand, Russell (2007). My Booky Wook. London: Hodder & Stoughton.. ISBN 978-0340936153. 
• Carey, Tanith (2007). Russell Brand. London: Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 978-1843172406. 
• Stone, Dave (2007). Russell Brand: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. London: John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1844543960.

References

1. ^ Nick Barratt. "Family Detective: Russell Brand". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007
2. ^ Nick Barratt. "Family Detective: Russell Brand". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2007. This article gives his place of birth as "Thurrock". Thurrock is the unitary authority within which Grays is located.
3. ^ Docklands24 - Author Interview: Russell Brand
4. ^ Bound & Gagged Comedy Ltd
5. ^ Russell Brand bags US show
6. ^ Russell Brand 2009 Tour Dates
7. ^ Brand apologises for prank call
8. ^ Brand, Russell (2007-11-13). "And then I became a junkie ... | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books" (HTML). The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/nov/13/biography.drugsandalcohol. Retrieved on 2007-11-18. 
9. ^ Brand quits Big Brother spin-off at BBC News
10. ^ Russell Brand speaks to the house
11. ^ Primetime slots for comedians Hill and Brand
12. ^ Brand and Ross to go head-to-head at BBC News
13. ^ Interview with Russell Brand | Media | The Observer
14. ^ Russell Brand to host Brit Awards at BBC News
15. ^ Russell Brand to host MTV Awards
16. ^ ^{a b} BBC - Brand makes controversial comments at MTV awards. BBC.co.uk. 8 September 2008.
17. ^ Schmidt, Veronica. "Russell Brand calls George Bush a 'retard' at MTV awards." Times (London). 8 September 2008.
18. ^ Reynolds, Simon. Brand apologises for Jonas Brother's VMA Gag. digitalspy.co.uk. 8 September 2008.
19. ^ Russell Brand to host 2009 MTV Video Music Awards?
20. ^ "Brand 'rejected for Peep Show role'". BBC Newsbeat. 2008-04-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7351000/7351096.stm. Retrieved on 16 April 2008. 
21. ^ 3am Entertainment Gossip & Celebrity News - Mirror.co.uk
22. ^ FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL - Russell Brand
23. ^ Apatow, Stoller speak 'Greek'
24. ^ Apatow, Stoller speak 'Greek' Universal buddy comedy stars Hill, Brand
25. ^ Russell Brand Tells Adam Sandler Bedtime Stories
26. ^ [1]
27. ^ Adam's own Brand of comedy
28. ^ Shakespeare Gets A Sex Change
29. ^ Brand on the run
30. ^ Russell Brand Developing Arthur Remake
31. ^ BBC Trust Editorial Standards Findings Page 14
32. ^ "Brand and Ross suspended by BBC". BBC website. 29 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7696714.stm. Retrieved on 29 October 2008. 
33. ^ BBC News 29/10/08
34. ^ "Timeline: Russell Brand prank calls". BBC. 2008-10-30. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7694989.stm. Retrieved on 31 October 2008. 
35. ^ Irons in the Fire (Hardcover) at Amazon.com
36. ^ Brand, Russell. Articles of Faith. amazon.co.uk.
37. ^ A shot in the arm for Brand awareness, The Guardian review
38. ^ Hilton, Beth (2008-05-31). "Brand scraps "Booky Wook" film". Digital Spy. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a97128/brand-scraps-booky-wook-film.html. Retrieved on 31 May 2008. 
39. ^ Russell's ego takes a bashing
40. ^ Brand: 'Book will be about philosophy'
41. ^ Brand signs £1.8 million book deal
42. ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall soundtrack
43. ^ 14 July 2007 – "The Russell Brand Show" on BBC Radio 2
44. ^ Russell Brand Gets To Be In New Morrissey Video
45. ^ ^{a b} "Interview with Russell Brand". The Observer. 2006-06-18. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jun/18/broadcasting.arts. Retrieved on 14 April 2008. 
46. ^ Interview - LIVE Magazine, 29 July 2007
47. ^ Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – 12 May 2006
48. ^ Won over by an idiot who’s interesting
49. ^ How Russell Brand is flirting with his old enemy, self-harm
50. ^ This charming man, interview between Brand and The Observer
51. ^ Pleasance, Edinburgh, review by The Guardian.
52. ^ Focus 12
53. ^ scotsman.com.
54. ^ Russell Brand: Two stops short of Barking
55. ^ Russell Brand-ed a shagger
56. ^ Brand romps into his film role
57. ^ It's the Bizarre Awards 2008
58. ^ Shakespeare Gets A Sex Change
59. ^ Brand keen to reprise junkie role
60. ^ Carell, Brand join 'Despicable' cast
61. ^ 20th Time Out Live Awards Winners - Comedy by Time Out
62. ^ Loaded Laftas
63. ^ Little Britain's big win
64. ^ Broadcasting Press Guild
65. ^ 100 Greatest Stand-Ups
66. ^ 2008 Biography of the Year
67. ^ Brand wins British Comedy Award

External links

• Russell Brand Official website
• Russell Brand at the Internet Movie Database

Meet Russell Brand After The ShowT

Date	Venue
Feb 4th	Oxford New Theatre
Feb 5th	Manchester Opera House
Feb 17th	Telford Oakengates Theatre
Feb 18th	Liverpool Empire Theatre
Feb 24th	Newcastle City Hall

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT
THE AMAZING RUSSELL BRAND CLICK HER TO VISIT RUSSELL'S WEB SITE

RUSSELL BRAND

Overview