Russell Howard: Quality Stand-Up

Usually, comedians who attempt to tackle the more grim and sticky areas of life using stand-up routines consisting of nasty words, vile references and jokes that cause embarrassment to literally seep out of the TV don’t look or act like British comedian Russell Howard. And that’s what makes him different from the rest: every time he’s on stage he’s like a small boy in the head-lights; a boy with a cheeky grin, super excited about stand-up and always with something interesting to say. You don’t know if you want him to open his big fat mouth or not, but as soon as he begins you’re hooked, waiting to see what strangeness he’s going to come out with next.

But Howard is much more than only a luxury dirty-joke teller--he’s got all the bases covered, and if they’re not covered, then they’re picked apart, ridiculed, and put back together in a Frankenstein’s monster of silly unending brilliance. He’s at home talking and messing about with pretty much any subject—hopping about, miming his odd jokes without a hint of shame when most comedians would be happier somber-faced and barely animate in the centre of the stage.

Another reason you don’t forget Howard is his ability to see his own flaws as the audience does; instead of covering up for a mistake by acting as if it was part of the routine, he has a habit of owning up right there and then—simply because he doesn’t care. You get the feeling that although it’s all pretty much worked out, he doesn’t mind if it all goes wrong. In fact, he might well want it to go wrong, because when things go wrong the most fun seems to happen.

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