Yesterday, Russell promoted his new late-night TV show, Strangely Uplifting.
The Hollywood Reporter chronicled what transpired at the gathering of the Television Critics Association
“TCA: British Comedian Russell Brand Calls U.S. Presidential Election ‘A Meaningless Spectacle’
“I don’t see myself as a malevolent jester attacking people who are already disenfranchised,” said Brand. “All I want is to make people feel better than they do now.”
2:28 PM PST 1/15/2012 by Marisa Guthrie
Russell Brand closed winter TCA with a side-splitting, blasphemous and deliciously crude question-and-answer session to promote his new late-night program, Strangely Uplifting. Set to bow in April on FX, details on the format are still a little vague – it will be part standup, part topical humor with an element of audience participation. FX has ordered an initial six installments of the program. But if Brand’s TCA session is any indication, it has the potential to be a barnburner.
Following are highlights from Brand’s session:
U.S. politics provided copious fodder for the British brand. Asked if his show would examine the 2012 president election, Brand allowed that the current crop of GOP contenders are “an interesting bunch. I don’t know much about them. But that could be a good thing.”
On Mitt Romney’s vast wealth: “Other billionaires must seem like Dickensian street urchins eating gruel with fingerless gloves.”
On the presidential race in general: “We know it’s meaningless who the president is. Don’t we? So I’m not going to be part of the meaningless spectacle. It’s like describing individual termites. The only legitimate distinction in global politics, I think, is: are you rich or poor?”
On former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum’s name: “[His] surname rhymes with sanitarium.”
On former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s name: “ludicrous, amphibious, bizarre.”
On U.S. Marines videotaped urinating on Afghan corpses: “It’s bad to wee on a dead body, but it’s worse to kill someone! A lot of people consider the old golden shower elitist.”
On Gingrich’s TV spot skewering Romney for speaking French: “Like that makes him elitist and a bit of a whoopsy. It’s so extraordinary that someone would be criticized for [speaking another language].”
On whether his show will traffic in the gossip of the moment, even if it involves him: “At the risk of plunging myself into a post-modern, self-referential vortex, I could analyze myself. If I’d done something actually newsworthy, then I’d cover it.”
On his goals as a comedian: “I don’t see myself or my role as a malevolent jester attacking people who are already disenfranchised. All I want is to make people feel better than they do now. All I want is to make people laugh. My goal is to acknowledge that within each of us is a divine and beautiful light.”
On the culture at large: “I consider contemporary culture to be a pink pony trotting through the world shitting glitter. They’re filling our minds with shit glitter!”
Read the original article here
Tags: Strangely Uplifting
I’m so excited for this show! :)
Dear Mr. Brand:
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your sharing your comedic medicine.
I have a suggestion for your new show:
interview authors of/ discuss the book, “The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone,” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resource/the-spirit-level.
[There are several interviews with the author on the "Worldview" program of the Chicago area National Public Radio station, WBEZ.]
Sincerely,
an admirer
What can I say…
One Lester Square meets Ponderland meets Scandalous all with the new twist of being aware and hoping to change the world
open and aware
awake and clear
we see
that each moment
it is about how
we connect
and treat
each other
can’t wait to see the new show
and watching your freak flag fly
all kidding aside.. one thing that has always shone bright
is your ability to get people to open to you
even back when you were whacked there was this honesty
that shone from you
the light that is
so my friend
let it shine…. be wild and divine
catch you out there
always
Luna
and just a little P.S. I have missed writing you poetry
I can’t wait to watch it! Only 6 installments? We need more! I’m sure it will be a success! :) Good luck Russell!
Even though “now” is so difficult to hold on to…I do feel better now than I did then. Thanks, Russell!!
Already…now has become then, see what I mean?
Great news on the show, glad to see you still “have issues”!
All the best!!!
Best wishes for your spirit, and admiration for your talent, from me.
A breath of fresh air.
We already know who the next president will be. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
However it turns out, I hope they’ll make it available on DVD.
On the culture at large: “I consider contemporary culture to be a pink pony trotting through the world shitting glitter. They’re filling our minds with shit glitter!”
yeah… a bunch of shiny crap…… :-)
Stay in the light…..
Awww.. look at you dazzling them with your brilliance… confounding them with credible wisdom. Too bad some might have a bit of glitter stuck in their eye and they can’t quite see the divine light just yet.
I cannot wait to see this! So excited to see you on American TV!!!
Glad to see it – as I have said many times before, my vote is for Russell for Emperor of the World.
Cool !
As an idealist, I feel a sense of relief that someone in the limelight has a sound moral code that they are operating from !
Pop culture as fun and flashy as it is, is also superficial and oft times is doing nothing better than to mindless entertain and distract the masses.
Am excited to watch your show and am excited to see how your presence and wisdom you have gathered instigates positive change . . . Keep on Track Mr. Brand, this is awesome !