A MINCING MESSIAH & AN EVERYMAN DRUNK
Russell Brand and Doug Stanhope epitomize the difference between British and American humour
Two comics perform in Ottawa next week, one quintessentially British, the other equally American, and each with a proud record of making people angry. The Brit is Russell Brand, the movie star and celebrity divorcee (from pop star Katy Perry), who performs Wednesday, Aug. 21 at the National Arts Centre.
The American is Doug Stanhope, the “drunk American comic,” actor and would-be presidential candidate, who performs Tuesday, Aug. 20 at Babylon on Bank Street in Centretown.
Brand is on his worldwide “Messiah Complex Tour,” which also features, his website says, “Jesus Christ, Che Guevara, Ghandi, Malcolm X and Hitler).” Brand, ahem, will be the one wearing the feather boa.
Stanhope is crossing Canada on what he calls his “Tiny Blisters Tour,” which sounds bad for our reputation, though it’s surely better than being on his upcoming “Shit Town Comedy Tour” in the United States in September.
Having the two in Ottawa in the space of two days is a grand opportunity to see the differences between British and American comedy — to see, as an acquaintance of mine puts it, “brainbased” British humour and “gut-based” American laughs.
Compare the classic British humour of Monty Python’s Flying Circus to the classic American humour of Saturday Night Live; the former requires at least a cursory knowledge of the Spanish Inquisition, or philosophers, while the latter requires only an appetite for the broad silliness of coneheads, or a guy living in a van down by the river. (These are general observations, and not to say that Monty Python was never silly or that SNL was never smart.)
There are also tremendous differences in the style of the two comics.
Brand is a decadent creature, like some louche attendant in the court of a French king. Stanhope is more an Everyman, a working stiff on the comic circuit who would rather play bars than comedy clubs and who invites people round for a visit when he’s home in the Arizona dessert.
Differences aside, Brand and Stanhope have a lot in common as performers — each is more intelligent than they may initially seem to be, and each is given to moments of genuine profundity, albeit outrageously so.
Each has built a career of being shocking, and each has a long history of substance abuse that has become part of the act — for Brand, as a former heroin addict, for Stanhope, as an unrepentant fan of booze, smokes and recreational drugs.
Also, Brand has spent much time in recent years breaking into the U.S. market, while Stanhope has spent time breaking into the U.K. market.
The following is a further comparison of Brand and Stanhope, culled from various media/Internet/ movie/TV/book sources that may create a fuller picture of each comic:
Brand on the U.S.: “I know America to be a forward-thinking country, right, because otherwise, you know, would you have let that retarded cowboy fella be president for eight years? We were very impressed. We thought it was nice of you to let him have a go, because, in England, he wouldn’t be trusted with a pair of scissors.”
Stanhope on the U.K.: “The BBC knows how to do TV. They run six episodes and stop, quit while they’re ahead. They’re not like American sitcoms going into their 19th season, and they have to add a f---ing alien or some random child they had out of wedlock that appears on the scene.”
Brand on audiences: “If they’re reluctant to listen, I’ll just clear off after five minutes. Some of the prison gigs could be quite short, particularly if they don’t respond well to homosexual innuendo.”
Stanhope on audiences: “There’s nothing worse than the disappointment in someone’s eyes when they stay for the second show because they think it’s all off the top of your head.”
Brand’s high moment of substance: In 2012 he appeared before a British parliamentary committee on drug use, and spoke eloquently about his own past heroin addiction, and his belief that addiction is not a crime but a health problem. The appearance has hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, surely the most-watched excerpt from a parliamentary committee.
Stanhope’s high moment of substance: Launched a presidential run in 2006 as a libertarian, and appeared to be motivated by serious public issues. Withdrew due to campaign-finance rules that prohibited him from making money from comedy performances if they included campaign activities.
‘Even as a junkie I stayed true (to vegetarianism) — “I shall have heroin, but I shan’t have a hamburger.” What a sexy little paradox.’
RUSSELL BRAND
Talking about his drug addiction
Brand’s moment of low judgment: The day after 9/11, he showed up to work at MTV dressed as Osama bin Laden. Was fired.
Stanhope’s moment of low judgment: In 2008, he created a website to raise funds to pay for an abortion for Bristol Palin, the pregnant, teen daughter of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Brand on drugs: “Even as a junkie I stayed true (to vegetarianism) — ‘I shall have heroin, but I shan’t have a hamburger.’ What a sexy little paradox.”
Stanhope on drugs: “I’ve done coke ‘til my nose was bleeding like the fourth week of Lilith Fair.”
Brand sample recent tweet: “I’m in Lake Tahoe about to do a show. I got in the lake, the California part, in the Nevada bit I would’ve used protection.”
Stanhope sample recent tweet: “So, like ... even if (I) did have abdominal muscles ... like what would you even use them for? Its so stupid.”
Brand guts a heckler: YouTube video shows a man yelling things such as “Katy Perry” at Brand during a show. Brand walks into the audience to see the heckler, then launches into a five-minute excoriation. “I thought, ‘This guy’s confident, probably, because he’s incredibly handsome,’ but look at you, you look like somebody who’s fallen off the outside of a church,” Brand says, to the delight of the rest of the audience. “And what is it that you have rattling around your mind, some bizarre combination of alcohol and idiocy?”
Stanhope guts a heckler: A video on YouTube shows a person leaving a show after being offended by a joke about Syria. “You just sat through rape and abortion and child molesting ... but Syria, that’s where it all falls apart?”
One word watching Brand brings to mind: Mincing
One word watching Stanhope brings to mind: Pugnacious
In conclusion, the one thing we’ve learned from these facts is this: heckle at your own risk.