Russell Brand - Do I like him, or don't I?

I just watched The British Comedy Awards on Channel 4 (thank fuck for SKY+!), and I'm stuck in a bit of a dichotomy.

Russell Brand won this award: "Outstanding Contribution To British Comedy".

This is where I have a problem. It's not that Brand doesn't deserve the award, it's just that I can't work out whether I like him or not. And the similarities between us bug me, as I feel like I'm trying to be him (even though I'm not).

For instance, I wear my hair up at the back, I wear tight jeans, waistcoasts, neck-scarves, winklepicker boots, and eyeliner. I, too, am an eccentric. And our influences and heroes are pretty much the same: Bill Hicks, Jack Kerouac, Jim Morrison, Stewart Lee....

Shit, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is one of my favourite films, and the soudtrack to "Get Him To The Greek" is one of my favourite albums.

I think my main problem with Russell Brand is that he is a very clever comedian (he proved this with his last show "Scandalous"), yet he relies on jokes which are nowhere near as good as he has proven his skills can produce. It annoys me that he can write excellent satirical jokes, but instead chooses to simply exploit his openly wild sex-life for humour. To me, it seems cheap. He's wasting talent.

I also have a HATRED of celebrity culture, and I can't help feeling he is the epitome of "celeb". Yet, I believe that he's a good enough actor, definitely has charisma, is very well dressed, and can be very funny. He claims one of his influences to be Bill Hicks, yet he's almost become evrything Bill Hicks stood against.

Russell Brand has proved that you can be eccentric and successful, and he has tested the boundaries of comedic controversy.

I do respect him. Fuck me, my first ever proper joke on stage was: "Before you say anthing, I'm not trying to be Russell Brand with the hair. Honestly, who'd wanna be Russell Brand? I would. he's rich and he's fucking Katy Perry."

And still, I can't bring myself to say that I truly like him. Is it the fact that I think people assume I'm trying to be him? Is it 'cause he is talented, and everything I should hate, but don't? Is it that I fear that if I ever became successful, that's what I'd become - a talented performer who would rather bask in the pseudo-glory of celebrity culture?

I don't know.



It's probably 'cause he can get laid and I can't.