Howard’s away
COMEDY STAR RUSSELL HOWARD TELLS MARION McMULLEN HOW HE’S COUNTING DOWN TO HIS BIGGEST WORLD TOUR – 52 CITIES, 24 COUNTRIES AND FIVE CONTINENTS
What’s the first thing you pack for a world tour? PILLS, potions and supplements ... so I don’t get ill. I have these amazing vitamin C sachets that go with me. My girlfriend is a doctor and says I shouldn’t take them, but they are really great for getting you going in the morning.
And the other thing I always take with me is my tour manager Kumar Kamalagharan. He is absolutely wonderful, but he does struggle getting through customs anywhere in America. He has to shave before going through airports.
Do you fit the image of a British comedian in America? (LAUGHS) They think British comedians look like Mr Bean and have a stiff upper lip. I just look like a small, little German woman. You don’t realise how weird a lot of things are in Britain until you go away and start talking about it.
Try explaining a lollipop man to an audience in New York. ‘Well, we give an old man a lollipop and make him stand in the middle of the road.’ ‘Why do they do that? ‘Erm, I don’t know mate. I’ll have to get back to you on that.’ I was in Japan when KFC ran out of chicken in the UK and footage made it onto Japanese news. They were just baffled and asking ‘What is going on in England?’
The Respite tour is going to take you across the globe. How do you deal with such a big undertaking? IT’S LESS traumatic than the last one. We’re doing it in blocks this time. Last time I did a lot and only had a day off here and there. This time I’ll have three weeks off and will be able to go home. It’s so much fun to do. It’s like being on a holiday and having strangers to chat to about it every day. You broke the record for the best ever stand-up show in China on the last tour. What was it like performing there? IT WAS quite bizarre with the government there. You have to submit your script in advance and I submitted the script I did in Swindon talking at the start of the show about the Oasis Leisure Centre and the roundabouts there.
During the Chinese show I was talking about Shanghai and eating chicken feet instead and the crowd loved it, but at the end the Chinese government were a bit perplexed asking ‘Why didn’t you mention the roundabouts?
(Laughs) I kept thinking there were people deep in the Chinese government reading a manuscript I did in Swindon. I think they were a bit pi**ed off I made it funnier. They wanted roundabouts.
Where does the new tour take you? I’M going back to China and I’ll be performing in Mumbai for the first time as well. Me and my mum did a travel show there and went around India for two months so I’m really looking forward to Mumbai. I feel I’ve got a handle on India.
I’m also going to South Africa for the first time and Germany. I performed in the round on the last tour and it went very well. It brings you that much closer to everyone. I did it in Manchester and it was one of the best nights of my life.
Does comedy travel?
YES, I do think comedy is sort of international now. I was talking to Michael McIntyre the other day and he was saying ‘I’m doing my gig in Malta’ and I was ‘I’m doing a gig in Mumbai.’
You go to Oslo and 500 people are waiting for you. It’s an incredible feeling.
Do you return home with lots of souvenirs? I’M NOT great when it comes to souvenirs. I should be much better.
I bought some crystals and beads for my girlfriend when I was in Thailand.
I was right in the middle of this tantric course and there was a lot of screaming and orgasmic moaning ... and I was sitting next to my mum.
Is there anything you have to watch out for on tour? I HAVE psoriasis and I’m not really allowed to have dairy. I feel a bit bad when I’m abroad. I’m the white middle class man asking ‘Can I have almond milk?’ in a village in Thailand. Or I’m looking for oat milk or soya.
I normally end up just taking my drink black without milk and if I have a flare up I have a flare up. I get scabs on my knees and elbows. My gran, who died last year, had it as well. If I see little scabs on my shoulder I know it’s a flare up, but then I think of my gran.
(Laughs) I think she wants to go travelling with me to Japan or somewhere as a scab on my arm or on my hand.
Any other plans for the year? I WANT to try and spend as much time as I can at home. It’s ironic when I’m about to do a world tour, but I want to spend more time doing nothing. I’ve said yes so much to many things over the last few years and I’d like to spend some time with my girlfriend.
See russell-howard.co.uk for tour dates and ticket details.
Americans think British comedians look like Mr Bean and have a stiff upper lip. I just look like a small, German woman