Friday, October 12, 2012



Having been a minor fan of Russell Brand for a few years now, I was intrigued by the idea of him hosting a talk show, though, do we really need another one of these? Brand's rapid, rabidly eclectic stream-of-consciousness ramblings can cause me to laugh a minute after I've taken in what he's said. I like that. I figured if anyone could shoot a breath of fresh air into a tired medium, it might just be this witty Brit. I was wrong.

I've now just finished watching my first - and last - episode of BrandX. Brand looks awful; grown men in shredded girl jeans is not a look, it's an affectation), never shuts up and, in an almost disturbingly pervasive (and manic) mode, flies around his set like a junkie attempting to evade being caught in any one place for more than 15 seconds.

He did little more than talk at his guest, the wonderful Ryan Hurst (Opie of Sons of Anarchy)as he interviewed him whilst reading from cue cards, asking questions that, by their very nature, required little more than a "yes" or "no" answer. It felt as though Hurst were on the witness stand and, threatened by the prosecution, denied the opportunity elaborating on or expanding any of his answers. When Ryan was finally allowed to speak uninterrupted (for less than 60 seconds), Mr. Brand cut him off to announce it was time for commercials. And so it went.

There's no denying Brand intelligence and he's an inspiring, sometimes outrageously funny comedian, but BrandX is a disaster and proves, at least by my reckoning, the static quality of the talk show medium is not the venue to capture his "brand."

Go on tour. Make some more movies, Mr. Brand. Leave this disaster behind.

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