regular panellist on BBCZ‘s Jim/t l/It' H'u'lv. with a Sunday morning radio show and an if.comeddie nomination to his name. Rtissell Howard recently played the biggest gig of his life. and at 27. his comedy future seems assured. 'We jtist almost crashed on the motorway] he blurt-greets me. "Terrifying. I was having the phone passed to me and we nearly ploughed into the back of a truck. I shouted otit a very odd word. one I can't repeat.‘ Ah. goon. “Rape?” ljtist cried "raaapef'" Scarcely a fitting epitaph for a comic who's built a reputation for thinking on his feet. But it‘s always intriguing when an interview threatens to become an obituary and instead takes a disturbing turn into psychiatry. lispecially when
the subject routinely admits to roomfuls of
strangers that he's intimidated by the si/e of his kid brother's ‘wang'. 'He's line about that.‘ the Bristol-born comic maintains. ‘He's not allowed into any gigs because he laughs too loudly.‘ Howard then emits what can only he described as a West (‘ountry bellow.
The night before we chat. Howard was playing to 3000 people in London for the BBC stand—up showcase. /.f\'(’ u! the Apollo. The si/e of the crowd eclipsed his previous best. an ensemble ()xfani fundraiser in Melbourne. where he persuaded Steve Hall from We Are Klang! to join the encore with his penis tucked between his legs. ‘A drunk. naked man bogling as the ()xfam number scrolled beneath us and we sang "We Are The \V'orld.“ he recalls proudly.
As anyone who's heard Howard's BB(‘(i show with if.comeddie best newcomer nominee .lon Richardson will appreciate. there's a schoolboy
snigger to his keen observational comedy. Part of
a new breed of stand-up dubbed the ('hocolate Milk (Bang for rejecting a hard-living ethos. they include the likes of Daniel Kitson. Demetri Martin. John Oliver. David ()‘Doherty. Josie Long and Alun (‘ochrane. and can be characterised by their romantic sensibility. intelligence. geekiness. love of indie music and passive-aggressive. alpha male competitiveness. Boyishly good-looking. with a si/eable female stalkerbase. Howard has been identified by Kitson as the man whose role it is to 'bring the pussy" to the bearded Yorkshireman‘s court.
‘That‘s just him talking jive.‘ Howard sighs. ‘He’s listed all his friends' roles: (‘ochrane makes sandwiches. John has a philosophical lilt and my chief role is to write "big old titties" into his (ioogle whenever he leaves the room. You write it. pretend you haven‘t seen it. he returns from making a cup of tea. and you say “what‘s this. Dan'.’ You obsessed with big old titties?" That‘s never not funny.‘
He enjoys a rather more intellectual relationship with Wil Hodgson. The mohicaned. former communist and he were smoking cigars in a hot tub after gigging in Bournemouth a few" years ago. when Hodgson suddenly asked (reproduced here in Howard‘s best approximation of his (‘hippenham burr): “‘alroight Howard. what do you make of war
poetry then?" I told him: "I'm not really a fan of
Rupert Brooke. because essentially he was tricking young people into going off to die." He just went mental. "That's traitorous? You can’t say that about him. he was a genius!" Have you ever had your mate try to bollock you while wearing trunks'.’ I said I preferred Wilfred ()wen. H0 ['L‘Plied ()wen was "an arsehole". Then we just sat in the water for a bit. It was tense but very funny."
‘THE RADIO SHOW IS BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN WITH LESS HORSES AND MORE XBOX'
Rather less amusing was his unbroadcast episode of ITV's ‘Iitllifll ([12. a quickly sltel\etl series in which the likes of [rank Skinner. Dara ()‘Briain and Patrick Kiclty hung out with disparate groups of people for a week before performing comedy to them. 'Hopelully. it'll never appear] Howard inutters. 'I spent a week with these e\tretne surfers in Ireland and though it was a lot of fun. I was quite naive about how they would edit it. They left out all the fun to give the gig a sense of jeopardy. luckily. loads of great stories came out of it that ITV couldn't show. ()ne of these surfers' initiation ceremonies is to go to a post office and try to buy pornography. which led to me being bollockcd by a very angry old lady."
.-\fter 1i I‘thI e\perience reporting backstage from the Bill .-\\\;tl‘tls itil‘ I'I'V: l'I yitlsl felt so Hill of my depth'). Howard has resolved to solely appear in programmes that make him a better stand-up. like .IIUt'A I/u' Him/t (pictured below i. ‘lnitially. you desperately want to get your lines in because you don't want to look an idiot. like a timid young foal on telly.‘ he explains. ‘.-\nd it takes a little bit of getting used to. because there are certain jokes that in a comedy club wouldn‘t work. like President Bllsit being thick or whatever. which are thst bland. But in this conte\t. it's satire. :\nd the more you get into it. the more fun it becomes. I‘ve learnt so much from l‘rankie [Boyle] and Dara |()'Briainl because you realise you need more strings to your bow and have to be better informed. .\ly stand-up‘s more anecdotal. but it certainly benefits from having an opinionated take on the world.‘
He also plans to write for television with Richardson. but in the meantime the pair are considering a live collaboration for the Iidinburgh l‘ringe: ‘a low-key thing in a small venue. quite improvised and not a proper show. more of an afternoon fuckabout. ‘()ur friendship is that rare thing where you meet someone and straight away you hit it off. We lived together for the best part of a year and our radio show is basically born out of the sexual tension between us. It's been described as Bro/whack .l/omiluin with less horses and more Xbox and that pretty much sums it up.’
The Stand, Mon 29 Oct; BBC6, Sun, 10am; Live at the Apollo, BBC1, Mon 12 Nov.
LAUGHTER IN THE DARK
As the clocks prepare to change and herald in the bleak midwinter. Brian Donaldson picks out the big names helping to defuse the seasonal sadness and peers ahead to find those with a spring in their stand-up steps
Bill Bailey ~ ‘-
Alan Carr
French 8. Saunders
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Frankie Boyle
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‘ THE LIST 13