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 can’t wait! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s a hit cuz I luv ewe!! I’m sorry about Katie but I could’a told’ya it’d go down like that. You can’t get no good lovin’ from no Californy gal. Come on down south where the gals are sweet as honey and know how to stand by their man! Lol, I’m just sayin’. :p
Good luck, Russell!
Dawn
Tupelo, Mississppi
How do I get tickets to attend taping?!
Love you Russell – you are a very nice peson with a good heart and deserve your own brand of happiness. Looking forward very much to see your new show. Shine on baby. PJ
Well done Russell. A compelling argument to those of us who are awake in this world. We will be watching and loving every beautiful second of every one of the 6 episodes and beyond. Whatever happens new fans you will have and some people will wake up. Good job and Good luck!! We love you. xxxx
That’s some petrty heavy frost – looks like a beautiful place to take a walk. Do you have any shots of it during spring or summer, possibly fall? I bet it’s gorgeous there year-round.
8OJkKc nbmfuueryzwk
I like Zooey. She’s cute & funny. You two make a cute couple. IMO
We miss you in the UK, please come do stand up for us soon, I know the US has people named after amphibians and wam winter gloves to contend with but seriously, we still have the Daily Mail and my brain needs you.
Please come save my brain!
I just want to say, Why did you give up on your marriage? Just because her parents are religious and against Jewish people… That was stupid to divorce her like that. And she wanted to go to Hawaii, not London with you… you could have gone to Hawaii with her… go to London later. Somebody got to compromise. Oh well. She loved you enough to marry you. And you threw her heart away.
singing my song ♫
all day long
letting the soul of the vibrations run free
flowing and twirling
overhead
waiting for the day
they bump into your head :~)
wishing you well
sending you waves
to your healing
and to the rest of your days
shine on you crazy diamond
larger than life
♥
“filling our minds with shit glitter” – suddenly the meaning of life becomes clear to me – too many pink ponies urinating febreeze ‘air freshener ‘ and plopping glittery faeces all over the planet in a sufficating smothering layer
My humble advice is that you recommend your loyal followers consume more sustainably farmed v pure 400mg algae omega 3 DHA EPA before the moronification of our planet becomes fatal.
warnung:strange unrelated post.
longing for it again, hum?
such a desperate person, but maybe thats what the people like. The sexiness of being such glamurous ugly and shattered. Rockstarattidude is a nice word. If I am listening to the sound of the word and try to get its meaning, i see sadness. and much of hedonism to cover.
i´d rather say:i am happy that you are after a break-up, but. hmn, it never seemed to me thet you were actually happy. but this is “küchentischpychologie”
so have a nice day or evening or which bleeping time you actally are experiencing now.
spoiled english as ever. maybe ist readable, my last english lesson was 5 years ago.
and i think you culd google küchentischpsychologie- i didt find a english translation.
but i like my language, wich other has wonderful words as milchmädchenrechnung or Doppelhaushälfte (this is a littel joke too^^)
but, enough of my languagewanking, or whatever.
have a nice __________
p.s: any failures are mine, but if you find typing error, you can have them
I think your new show is going to be great!… but the crazies will come out when you talk politics in the U.S. As you can see, there are some seriously crazy people in this country who are passionate about their uninformed views.
So “educating” Americans about anything, especially politics is a sad, losing game. As our education system slips further and further down over the last 30 years, this continues to occur, sadly
Hey Russ,
ive been a fan of your good self for many years (since the debauched MTV dance music days) and im so happy to see how well you’ve done.
I’ve suffered the same problems with drugs as you have (6 years clean btw) so i know how it is an issue that never really goes away. Just wanted to say that you have been something of an inspiration to me over the years-in that
‘heres ol’ russ,hes in the limelight dealing with all sorts of pressures and strains which i cannot imagine. And still he remains strong,so can i’. Good luck with the new show old chap.
I wish everybody was as enlightening as you are. This really helped me with my issues. I can’t thank you enough.