Interview in which Russell Brand is clever, likable, and well-spoken

I'm not a huge Russell Brand fan (I don't dislike him either, but most of his media came out after my daughter was born and I essentially embarked upon a half-decade adult TV and movie fast), but this is a remarkable interview. Brand gets some tough questions from the interviewer, and while he gets excited and even rants a little, he is consistently cogent, intelligent, and well-spoken. This is practically a master class in how to talk about celebrity while being a celebrity without sounding like a knob.

Russell Brand On Newsnight [Full Interview] (via Reddit)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

ALSO, Russel Brand’s interview in Dawn French’s “Boys Who do Comedy” is really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPg76FbcVwQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X9br2qxz20
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XTd43qZbWg

As are most of Dawn French’s interviews…
Pat Race

Sounds like he just finished reading “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.”
Anonymous

People have become bombarded with such inane conversation in the media that it helps you realize how far things have fallen when you see something as intellectually engaging as this interview. Hopefully Brand will help bring the Dark Ages of the media to an end.
tarabl

For sure it’s a good interview but I think people are overly impressed because the bar has been set so low for so long. Interviewers don’t ask real questions and don’t expect real and good answers and people expect celebrities to be stupid. He is intelligent but ya still “Dude is tripping yo”. As in I guess I still see self-servingness here but so what really. As for the person wondering about Kate Perry’s possible hidden intelligence. I guess so many of the celebrities who make the most noise are pretty goofy brainwise but many aren’t. Why do you fall for the candy coating and think that is all there is? Brand references that in this interview. I betcha Kate Perry has a beautiful brain too. I love how that would bother some people.
soubriquet

I’ll revise my labelling of him a little in my mental database.
However, in all I’ve seen of him, on TV, in films, or heard on radio, he’s an utter twat.
When I hear his voice I change channel or switch off.
Maybe this interview marks a turning point, maybe he’ll change.

The thing that interests me now, is that, if he has the insight he appears to show here, why does he persist in repeatedly producing dross?
Jack

As someone who only knows him outside of the U.K., he has always seems liked a flitty hack. But between this and the NPR interview itâ€™s pretty clear there is a deeper person here. But he hasnâ€™t found the right stage or way to express himself in the world.
Anonymous

Irony: People posting about how Russell Brand appears to them after watching an interview where he discusses the vapidity of our celebrity culture
PeaceLove

Cory: Glad you pointed to this. Don’t underestimate Brand. He’s one of the sharpest, most brutally honest comedians anywhere. Check YouTube for appearances on Letterman, Craig Ferguson and elsewhere.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To the Greek are both good showcases. Here’s a funny off-the-cuff audition tape from the former: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoQrPsuSlWU

Brand totally owns both films, and in the latter he lifts the humor mask to show the unexpected poignancy and pain underneath.

He’s also fascinating to watch as a major “player” (who was voted “Shagger of the Year” for two years in a row). Quite the ladies man!
doogiehowsah

There’s really no reason for the implicit anti-Brand sarcasm in the title of this post. Brand has always been both hilarious and erudite as a standup and in interviews. Just because he’s done, you know, MTV awards shows and, uh, “Hop,” doesn’t mean he isn’t smart and funny.

BTW go listen to that radio segment that caused all the commotion in the UK (or, uh, read the transcript if the accent/speed combo makes it a little hard to understand — http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/oct/27/russell-brand-jonathan-ross-andrew-sachs-calls). It’s understandable why there was a kerfuffle of course, but it’s hysterical.
Anonymous

Not surprised at all

He’s hilarious ‘off-the-cuff’ on The Howard Stern Show (and before anyone groans…loosen the F up!) and was great in Get Him To The Greek.

I didn’t like his stand up, but he’s brilliant on occasion..
Anonymous

The turning point for me in my opinion of him was his appearance on Have I Got News For You a while back. I rather suspected, based on his previous TV work, that he’d be out of his depth, as some unfortunate guests clearly are when thrown into the fray with Ian Hislop, Paul Merton and a good guest host, but he was well-spoken, funny and intelligent. This interview is terrific, and I’ll be very interested to see what comes of his future projects. That introspective examination of fame for fame’s sake and the cult of celebrity, coming from someone deeply ensconced within it, makes for a deeply engaging topic, and I whole-heartedly support his effort to examine and change the ‘narratives’ that the mainstream media manufacture and promote.

I’ve yet to read his books, and I’ve only seen snippets of his stand-up work, but I think I’ll have to track them down.
NoctilucentStudios

When I first heard about this guy the quote that popped into my head was from Blake: The road of excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom.
Anonymous

He talks about the media spinning a narrative of him as a cad and a dandy yet he is the one who (practically) overnight turned from seemingly normal(ish) tv presenter into over-dressed adjective-spouting dandy. He projected the original image and shouldn’t be surprised if the media picks up on it. He’s not any more intelligent than a lot of people, he just dresses up his ideas with over-written or luscious speech to draw attention and posture.

He’s an attention seeker and (self-proclaimed) egotist yet tells us we should ignore the celebrity narrative and concentrate on ecological, political, social or economic issues. My question is, why is he willingly in the media limelight? What does he have to offer? Hillarious “Hi-jinx and tomfoolery”. He sounds like an excited-to-have-a-grasp-of-a-vaguely-quaint-and-lush-English-idiom teenager. STFU Russell. Your ideas are corroded by your “lush” language, and your contradictory and attention-seeking presence.

Just my thoughts.
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, I’m never seen a lot of substance in his work. I’ve seen his stand up, but not read his books, so maybe he’s better in those?
  
  I agree with him that the whole Andrew Sachs thing was blown out of all proportion by the Daily Mail (Murdoch would love to get rid of the BBC, and does use every opportunity to undermine it).
  
  But putting that aside for the moment, what great creativity is Russell even talking about here? Half-baked prank phone calls, which included the improvised songs he started doing after the Mighty Boosh started doing them. Which Russell delivers in the dandy persona he adopted…after seeing Noel Fielding’s. So yeah, not a lot of creativity there either.
  
  I guess he’s a slightly better ambassador than the Top Gear cast (who don’t see a ton of DM criticism of course).
Tango Charlie

Nthing the disconnect between how he comes across here and how I’m used to seeing him (vapid).

There are probably a lot of factors involved, though – certainly a paycheque’s a paycheque. He may be able to justify doing something that goes against his ideals. Maybe he doesn’t even see it that way. Compartmentalize it.

Seeing as how he’s becoming more and more popular, though, and his cachet is increasing, maybe he’ll have more opportunities to get in on some projects that align more closely with the messages he wants to get out there. This interview can’t hurt. If he keeps offering up quality insights, maybe more people will be willing to pay him for that, and in a few years we’ll have forgotten that this was such a surprise.

Or maybe he’ll keep doing things across the spectrum of sophistication. We’ll just have to keep up and learn to reconcile the fact that the dude can be insightful AND, um, low-brow, I guess.

You could argue that it’d be a great thing if someone who’s a fan of Crude Russell could be swayed into adopting some of Insightful Russell’s ideas, that would be an all-around Win.
Kimmo

I knew Brand had a legion of enthusiastic fans, but he’d never really grabbed my attention until now.

This guy is one of the smartest and most articulate talkers I’ve seen… he’s bloody brilliant! Now I want to watch all his interviews.

I’d love to see him with Stephen Fry for half an hour or more…
Romana_Clef

I was first introduced to Brand in when he gave a Jonathan Ross interview that was less intellectual than this, but in which he was really effusively friendly and funny.

Ever since then, I’ve occasionally watched other interviews with him, as well as his actual work. I’ve never been able to get into the latter – the former never disappoints.
Viktor

I am a fan of him. He’s very intelligent, yet religious and that always throws me for a loop. Maybe he is just “spiritual”. Maybe he hasn’t plumbed that depth yet… I am curious about his religious beliefs now. He had me convinced he was totally together until 13:35 or so, that was an interesting interview. Hope he reads more…
JimEJim

He always reminded me a little of Sacha Baron Cohen, since if you only look at him through his most popular stuff you probably wouldn’t think much of him, but then if you dig deeper you see there’s actually a bit more there. Both of them are more intelligent than some of their characters might lead you to believe.
Anonymous

I second the Howard Stern recommendation, he did at least two interviews there that were great.
Anonymous

dig up his old podcasts from the BBC and you’ll understand just how amazing he is.
Anonymous

piers morgan does a ‘life story’ series on channel3 [itv] uk..
I’d like to look again can’t find anything shareable even though
itv have a look again feature its not int. agreed

he did russell brand and it was even in the cooler as helen mirren
gave a report that was good on their recent movie/set work
pato pal ur

I never cared much for Russell Brand either myself until I heard this NPR interview with him a few years ago and it completely changed my view of him: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101881014
PaulR

My goodness, he’s got the skinny arms!
- Jake0748
  
  Does he have the Jimmy legs too?
  - PaulR
    
    I have no idea. You’ll have to ask Katy.
sando_art

Wow, super impressive. Delivery/vocabulary/train of thought. I’d say he comes off smarter that 90% of us. Yet actively and purposely pushes the vapid stereotype of himself.

My theory: It’s all for some bigger purpose, he’s pulling our leg in a huge Andy Kaufman way. He’s an intellectual doing a life piece on celebrity, going so far as to marry a pop star. I bet the shagging and rehab are all a made up, and his real story will come out later….as a sad documentary on how far we’ve gone with celebrity/fast fed/empty culture.

And his stage name fits it all Russell _Brand_…he’s topping Borat for sure.
agreenster

This….wow, this was a great interview! In the words of Ali G: “respect!”
- Anonymous
  
  I believe that’s “Respek”. ;)
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    Booyakasha.
    - Anonymous
      
      Antinous for the win.
  - agreenster
    
    Crap! You’re right.
Bender

Brilliant. An utterly brilliant talk about celebrity.
Anonymous

His podcast was Genius. He just rambled and did lecherous interviews and talked about conquering America as an actor.
Anonymous

To me it is more than Russel who is so excellent here, it is the interview. the BBC interviewer Paxman. Rarely in the US are there interviewers capable of pulling off an interview like this anymore, and few networks willing to support it.
Anonymous

“Blimey.” LOL
Cowicide

I fell asleep halfway through…. not too shabby up to that point, I think.
Nelson.C

I don’t much care for Brand, the media personality. So much so that I’m disinclined to look into Brand, the real person.
- Fang Xianfu
  
  I felt much the same way, thought he was a total tool. This interview was a voyage of discovery in that while there are still some things I don’t like about him, he’s definitely not a knob, as Cory put it, like I once assumed.
daen

I watched some of his stand-up and was blown away by how rapidly his mind moves from topic to topic – always coherently and often self-deprecatingly. I then watched this clip of him in character as Trinculo in “The Tempest” where Alfred Molina is rendered speechless by Brand’s extemporization. Brand is a true Fool in the Will Sommers tradition – and I mean that as a compliment.
lifesart

No wonder I have always been somewhat fascinated by his comedy. The intelligence shines through the work of the good comedians. In Brand’s case, it’s not just the British accent, contrary to what my husband says.
Paul

@cory

“Knob”?

It’s official, you are now Britsh :)

Welcome.

On-topic: I’m not a fan of a lot of Brand’s stuff, especially the films and some of the Tv stuff, but his stanup can be very smart and pretty incisive. Not someone to underestimate.
- snakedart
  
  “Knob”?
  
  It’s official, you are now Britsh :)
  
  You must be forgetting that Cory comes from the Canada.
  
  Go rewatch Strange Brew and tell us again that “knob” is solely a Britishism.
  - Jake0748
    
    Some us us redneckian Amerkans think that “knob” is a good insult too. Especially when used sparingly.
Anonymous

educated person, and perhaps on designer amphetamines
Xpic

His intelligence comes through not just in his language, but also in his references to literature, and the concepts he discusses. He confidently bounces from Kerouac to Plato without batting an eyelid.
He’s not a hypocrite for decrying empty fame. He’s a troubled soul, trying desparately to be more than the vacuous celebrity we the public take him for, whilst nonetheless being obliged to preserve his image, aware that his livelihood depends on it. Can’t be easy.

(And if Cory had wanted to be really British, he’d have said ‘wanker’ instead of ‘knob’. Not that ‘knob’ isn’t British, just that ‘wanker’ is uniquely British.)
yclept

I’ve been a fan of Brand’s, despite perhaps not being disposed to be, since I first saw him in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

You know why? Because Jeremy Segel talked him up on Terry Gross’s Fresh Air on NPR.

Thanks for the heads-up Jeremy.

And, WHEW, what an interview. I love Brand’s take on fame how the media (and presumably others) conspire via message that include his own “extracted icon” used to represent what is convenient (taken via celebrity/fame) to keep people confused and immobile.

The idea of fame Taking something from Celebrities. The ability to define one’s own narrative. Not sure I agree, but I’m going to listen again.

..bruised and shattered at the … of the foothills

When he talks about losing ones’ sense of self, that it could get lost amongst the reflections in the media. Seeing how that tied into his justification (and seemingly genuine shame) at prank call that went too far.

I love how he says, (paraphrasing) If you have a deep love for x, y, or z, do it, otherwise, if you are pursuing it some supplemental celebrity satisfaction, you are going to be sorely disappointed.
Anonymous

Thanks for highlight this, I really really dislike Russell Brands comedy but this interview was entertaining, watchable and Russell as a person came over as a fairly decent bloke. I’m pleasantly surprised.
bobbcorr

A very thoughtful interview – it’s very interesting to hear these ideas delivered in a slightly manic humorous way, as opposed to the ponderously pious way they usually get served up by the professionally pious.
ultranaut

Dude is tripping yo
Anonymous

WINNING
boo

Thought that the guy was a wanker based on past experience: turns out he is more thoughtful than the average politician.

Always willing to learn! :}
KDJ

For anyone who hasn’t seen it: I’d highly recommend tracking down “Russell Brand’s Ponderland”. It’s what finally changed my opinion of him. Utterly hilarious.
Anonymous

this is the 2nd place i’ve seen this linked as a video that would make me “like” Russell Brand. He actually seems a little more annoying than I thought he would, especially given the build up of the reviewers.

I suppose if you expect him to be a slow-witted moron and see this, you might be surprised. But otherwise, he doesn’t say too much that other celebs have said, just faster and more of it.
daen

It’s a great interview. But come on, Cory, Jeremy Paxman is obviously a Russell Brand fan (and how can’t you be?). If Brand were a politician (god help him if he had been Michael Howard), he would have been taken apart in the first five minutes.

I’d like to see his anti-consumerist documentary (“Russell Brand Unbranded”?) …
Scatterfingers

One of the peripheral narratives of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen is that many people (in his fantasy world) aspire to godship, but few arrive there. And the ones that arrive find their worshippers actually hold the power to reshape them into something other than what they wish to be. Thus the capriciousness and inattentiveness of the gods is not in spite of their many worshippers, but because of them.

When Mr Brand says that “no-one cares about religion”, I think he sees himself in the same light. He aspires to fame, finds himself with an unlikely amount of it, and realises that he can’t be what he wants to be. He can only be what his fans and the media make him out to be.

Which is an astute point by both Mr Erikson and Mr Brand, I think. That we remake our heroes (and gods) in our own image as much as they make themselves, so to speak.
cjp

I am a big Brand fan. Not sure if he’s qualifies as a guilty pleasure, or not. He’s smart and funny, yes, but he’s just so damn pretty, too.

My favourite Brand moment is his take on hunting from his series “Ponderland.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9KT_PnCgD0
dancentury

I had no idea that he was intelligent. Thanks for pointing this out. Not sure I could sit through an Arthur remake though.
babylost

I was converted to the “Brand” after watching him in interviews with Noel Gallagher. The two make quite the duo.

Youtube them and have a good laugh.
shadywood

“He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!”
Anonymous

it would be exhausting, but I’d love to hear a conversion between Brand and Cornel Wilde. The cadence alone of that conversion would break land speed records.
Muse

Yeah, I am not really a fan of the acting he has done in movies, but he comes across as unusually insightful in every interview I have seen him do. I will skip seeing “Arthur,” but I am definitely going to look for “Ponderland.”
bklynchris

To all the haters:

To come through a childhood rife with neglect and some events that many psychologist would deem traumatic, and to go through the extreme alcohol and drug addictions with all faculties intact is something very FEW of us here would be able to do.

To be as well spoken and intelligent as he is w/o having attended “University” or gained his “O” levels or “A” levels or however the poncey Brits refer to it in their class defined society, is also quite impressive. To give a lecture at Ox-bridge without a whiff of anger or resent or defensiveness but stand in awe and appreciation of the young people achieving their academic goals, is truly humbling and indicative of raw intelligence.

Finally, for those who read his first book and also saw “Get Him to the Greek”, the scene where Jonah Hill deliberately spills Brand’s heroin and the reasoned explosive anger Russell’s character displays, knows that this was not acting but him drawing on his personal experience. This knowledge actually made that scene somewhat bone chilling.

It almost makes you wonder what intelligence Katy Perry is hiding under the latex….
- Anonymous
  
  These were some of my thoughts as well. If you’ve read his first book, you really do appreciate what he’s put himself through and then brought himself out of. I think he’s an incredibly interesting person, although yeah some of his recent media has a lot to be desired.
Anonymous

The Tempest — Russell Brand “Riff”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBOMSzhIfjk

Where he’s asked to talk about his character and goes off for about 5 minutes improvising. Really enjoyable, if you’re into that kind of thing.
Anonymous

Russell Brand does best when being interviewed. Two things worth googling: his fairly recent interview on the Larry King show (just as it was ending) and when he interviews his idol, Morrissey.
Keith

If you only know Brand from his movie roles, you’d think he was just another empty headed celeb with a wacky hairdo. But his standup is really good. When given a chance, he can be extremely intelligent and fun.
bill streeter

Ever since I heard his interview on The Treatment with Elvis Mitchell I’ve thought that Brand was the most smartest and relevant modern comic since Bill Hicks. It’s easy to dismiss him because of the bad tv and movies he’s made (can’t think of anything I’ve liked him in other than interviews) but the boy thinks very deeply.
bashgyrl

It’s to bad Brand never used this level of insight to improve his “art”. His stand up was a vapid as his celebrity were talking “Dane Cook” bad.
- Jack
  
  I think part of the problem is heâ€™s more of a â€œwitty presenterâ€Â in a vaudeville sense than a tradtional â€œstand upâ€ in the modern U.S. sense.
  
  U.S. entertainment nowadays is too compartmentalized. I mean, Steve Martin plays a banjo and some people get upset… Ridiculous.
bill streeter

Link to the equally brilliant Elvis Mitchell interview here (audio only): http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt/tt101027russell_brand_booky_
rwmj

I will second (or third?) “Ponderland”. Also his first book is definitely worth reading.
bklynchris

I have quite a bit of respect for Brand. His stand up is very mature, self reflective, and down right genius at times. On the spectrum of British comedians, IMHO he ranks on the brilliant end. THe extent to which I was able to understand and appreciate him was underscored by his first memoir and the quality of the writing therein.
tw15

Russell Brand’s documentary homage to Jack Kerouac, where he recreates Kerouac’s journey across the USA, is very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-A0y7MXoo
tw15

Better clips of Russell Brand on the Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJefUvoAG3M&NR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUy2ZdclOIA