Russell Brand: RE:BIRTH

[BritishHobo]

Up on Netflix now. Quite excited to watch it - I really loved the show he did after Sachsgate, quite affable and self-deprecating in the wake of such an enormous scandal, and I'm hoping this will do the same kind of thing for what Brand got up to during the 2015 election.

[up_the_hampipe]

I liked the self-awareness, at least. I didn't think it was very good overall, but he was never the strongest stand-up.

[Timothy]

Bit dull compared to Messiah Complex and Scandalous tbh.

Really enjoyed those. Two of the best stand up specials from the UK imo.

This not so much.

[up_the_hampipe]

Bit dull compared to Messiah Complex and Scandalous tbh.

Really enjoyed those. Two of the best stand up specials from the UK imo.

Is it popular consensus that those were brilliant then? I've not seen Messiah Complex. Saw some of Scandalous when it was on TV years ago and it was pretty good.

[Timothy]

Don't really know to be fair. Scandalous was really really good. Top comedy from start to end.

Same with Messiah Complex. But I don't know how the DVD or registration of the show is. I saw it in Holland and he put soooo many little political seemingly effortless references to Dutch politics and current Dutch affairs in the show that I was overwhelmed and a bit bewildered by how he did that. From the names of politicians to their way of thinking to at that time current political and social problems that were really Holland specific. Loved it.

[Captain Z]

Overall I'm generally a fan of RB but I recently re-watched the one he did after Sachsgate on Youtube and thought it was dreadful.

[iamcoop]

None of the ones post-sachsgate have had any involvement from Matt Morgan have they? I think Russell is more talented than people give him credit for and times can have flashes of brilliance but comedy wise I feel his output suffers without Matt's injection of a bit more self awareness..

[Thomas]

I was in a yoga studio in Cork this evening (not doing yoga), and there was a photo of ol' Russ with the staff.

I love the podcasts with Matt Morgan - some of the funniest, most delightful stuff I've heard; I tend to recommend them whenever Russ is mentioned by a friend, positively or negatively - but I've never really paid attention to his stand-up.

The taste-heads here are screwed on pretty tightly, though, so on your praise I'll watch Scandalous, and if I like that I'll do this Re:Birth. Then I'll report back to your fine thread, BritishHobez, with my take. 

[Timothy]

I was in a yoga studio in Cork this evening (not doing yoga), and there was a photo of ol' Russ with the staff.

I love the podcasts with Matt Morgan - some of the funniest, most delightful stuff I've heard; I tend to recommend them whenever Russ is mentioned by a friend, positively or negatively - but I've never really paid attention to his stand-up.

The taste-heads here are screwed on pretty tightly, though, so on your praise I'll watch Scandalous, and if I like that I'll do this Re:Birth. Then I'll report back to your fine thread, BritishHobez, with my take.

Watch Scandalous, if you like that watch Messiah Complex. If you like that try and watch Re:Birth. It's the weakest of the three imo.

[Thomas]

Thanks, Timothy, I'll advance in that order.

[McFlymo]

I don't particularly rate him as a stand up. I had a lot of time for RB but drastically turning his back on all the stuff he had been saying about not supporting the political system, he then tells everyone to vote Labour? That was just baffling and sad.

I think Re:Birth is him trying to address that and atone for it, with the general message being: "I'm an idiot, you can't really trust anything I say."

There were some decent moments in Re:Birth though, his narcissism gets a bit tiring sometimes and doesn't often lead to many funny or original insights, but I did laugh at a few points.

And I admire that he can be so self-deprecating and self-aware. There's substance to what he says, even when he's deliberately camping it up.

[Sin Agog]

I think my favourite stand-up set of his is that one where he just rifles through an audience member's bag and spirits up almost an hour's material out of it.  Dunno if it's still on youtube.

I'd have quite liked to have been party to Brand's unhinged early days when he'd throw dead animals into the audience and get glassed up by big burly boys. Sure, it's not refined joke-telling at its best, but it hearkens back to that alt cabaret scene of the late '80s/early '90s when every other comedy act was doing something other than joke-telling.  Feels...uniquely British.

[Beagle 2]

I went to see this and thought the second half was superb, which was a relief as there was a lot of nothing in the first half - I guess it depended on the night. Looking forward to revisiting.

[rasta-spouse]

For me, this went downhill when he moved on to Trump material. It was going nicely, and then he just had nothing strong, real or original. The "being in Trump's office" anecdote had some potential as a springboard, but he missed it.

Brand isn't a first rate comic, but his position as a mega-celeb and his ability to be very honest, open and spontaneous makes his stuff quite compelling.

[Thomas]

Watch Scandalous, if you like that watch Messiah Complex. If you like that try and watch Re:Birth. It's the weakest of the three imo.

Unfortunately I've had to skip Scandalous for now, as I haven't been able to find it anywhere, and I went straight to Messiah Complex. Quite enjoyed it, quite ambitious (which is always refreshing, when so much stand-up is simply a person onstage ticking rather obvious boxes, with little movement, theme, or drama), but I thought the sex-Jesus denouement was the weakest part of the show.

On to Re:Birth.

[notjosh]

It's pretty well known now, but the appearance he did on American morning television to promote Messiah Complex is a lot of fun. Genuinely reduces a professional anchor into a giggling fangirl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCEVd1r-bU

[Fishfinger]

Quite funny but ultimately narcissistic. Since he embarked on a (self-curated) tour of his worst media moments, he should've at least addressed head on his little campaign to dissuade people from registering to vote (there are a few moments with Paxman without the proper context). His appearance on the Scroobius Pip podcast of that time was particularly sickening. This show is all about him and how he feels and not the impact of his behaviour.

[Fishfinger]

. in case of edit bug.

[Twed]

Quite funny but ultimately narcissistic

Yeah. This was basically Ponderland but where every clip is Russell Brand.

[Sin Agog]

The latest Under the Skin episode with the young black American free marketer, Candace Owens, is a really good listen.  Not a giant fan of the pod as it's mostly just Russ summarising everything his guests say back at them, except his summary is three times longer, but this was bristly fun.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-OeKV1JZGI

[McFlymo]

The Under The Skin episode with Blindboy is pretty nice.

https://www.russellbrand.com/podcast/057-the-masks-we-wear-with-blindboy-the-rubberbandits/