Russell Brand on TalkSport
Russell Brand on Talk Sport
Russell returned to the radio, with a little help from old Radio2 boss Lesley Douglas, at 9pm on TalkSport. His old Saturday night slot. A deal for 20 one-hour shows has been agreed. Although the Daily Mail editorial staff will have a significant impact on Russell Brand lasting the full allocation of shows. If they get emotional, and you bet they will looking for opportunities to do so, the ensuing uproar may force the commercial station to rethink the partnership.
The show starts in a conference centre. An audience cheers out. The lack of radio intimacy has already put me off. This is not a radio show, it is a recording, live, of a stand-up gig. Massive difference. Still, it’s funny.
I’m looking forward to the improvisation and banter with Matt and/or Noel Gallagher or maybe even Mr Ross; this is the real comedy genius. I’ve always found Russell Brand funnier when he’s got somebody else to bounce off. He does use the audience in the recording on TalkSport, but the adverts just cut into dialogue, half-way through an anecdote. At least with the radio show conversation will lead into the commercials, rather than feeling like you’re listening in to a show – but not quite involved.
Then Matt Morgan turns up at 9:20pm. And Mr G. All three review the Edinburgh Evening News; it works. It works because they’re laughing at themselves, and trying to make each other laugh – instead of regurgitating a script. Chemistry exists, they know each other well, unlike the strangers in the audience.
More commercials. More repetition. More over excited voices, expressing every word at a steady pace, until the end of the ad, then come-the-terms-and-conditions-and-everbody-speaks-very-quickly.
“Autoglass repair, Autoglass replace.”
This is going to be hard to bear. I don’t listen to radio with adverts.
“Adverts, probably the best way to annoy someone on a Saturday evening”
I might have to wait for the podcast. Although I suspect they may still invade the flow when I listen to that.
“Kocken ze harbour. Why do Ich harbour me kocken.”
If you didn’t listen, you’ll be ignorant to that joke. I can’t attempt to explain it. Then Chris Hoy turns up, currently the Unofficial King of Scotland. Sir Knighthood Doctor of Cycling and Olympic History. Then Brand attacks the Scottish accent for making the word “third” sound too like the word “turd” when expressing the popularity of darts in Scotland. It goes down well. More adverts.
I think they’ve told me I can listen to the uncut not for radio recording on the website 19 times in 41 minutes. I’m glad they think I’m a goldfish.
Then the third section of the show returns to a studio, albeit with a smaller audience. This is more like it. Dartboy becomes the topic of the show. Carnage.
“I know a lot of knowledge about darts” says Dartboy.
Brand claims he’s going to get Dartboy addicted to a variety of substances and throw him in the river. The Daily Mail is sniffing around, could this be there moment? If we don’t get a second episode, you’ll know why.
