TCB Infomercial: Russell Howard

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In America, I saw a bumper sticker that said jesus is my airbag what a way of finding out he's not real on this episode of the commercial break it says a lot about kind of like male ego that i was kind of delighted but like like as in like i just can't imagine a world in which like like people going off is there a girl you fancy but you feel fucking awful for admitting it you know what i mean that's the thing that would be but that would be that would make the press like if people were saying that they so yeah i was kind of i was uh essentially the nation's pity fuck that's kind of what i was the next episode of the commercial break starts now oh yeah cats and kittens welcome back to the commercial break i'm brian green this is the Winehouse to my liba. Kristen Joy.
Hoadley. Best to you, Kristen.
Best to you, Brian. Best to you out there in the podcast universe.
Thanks for joining us today on a DCB infomercial Tuesday with Mr. Russell Howard, UK sensation.
He is. He's the Robbie Williams.
He's the Robbie Williams of comedy over there in the UK. We're so excited to have him.

Feeling very grateful that he's decided to stop by the commercial break because he's British and he doesn't know.

He doesn't know that the commercial break is not

a place you go.

If you're trying to get the word out.

That's right, if you're trying to get the word out.

Honestly, we've been

grateful to have so many wonderful guests

as of late. Roy Wood Jr.,

Felipe Esparza,

so many that we can talk about.

Go check out those episodes because they are

Thank you. grateful to have so many wonderful guests as of late.
Yes. Roy Wood Jr., Felipe Esparza,

so many that we can talk about.

But go check out those episodes because they are doing very well, Chrissy,

on the interwebs.

On the interwebs.

There you go.

And who knows,

maybe we'll make a little news today

with our good friend Russell Howard,

currently on tour.

He's going to be coming to the west coast

of the United States here very shortly.

We'll put all the links in the show notes, as we always do. And his special is now out.
It's really funny too. It is really funny.
Jeff was laughing too. Oh, if we got Jeff laughing, then we know that we've hit on something special because Jeff doesn't laugh.
He's a humorless son of a bitch. So serious.
Jeff is a humorless son of a bitch. You hear me, Jeff? Loosen up, dude.
Actually, Jeff's kind of like one of the loosest people I know. He's very loose.
When he gets his bell rung, there's no, don't tighten up, Mr. Green.
Ding dong! They go in there, they ring the door, they stick their hand in and they wave, they drop a package off and then they... Amazon comes in Jeff's door.
That's all I gotta say. That's how loosey-goosey he is.
Anyway, Russell's gonna be here. And yeah, I'm very excited.
Speaking of UK news, it seems that... That Meghan and Harry have done the right thing and they have postponed the much-ballyhooed premiere of her, I don't know, cooking with Kate thing that's going on.
Megan. I'm sorry, cooking with Megan.
Cooking with Kate. That's the other sister.
Cooking with Megan. Was it a cooking show? I guess like a lifestyle show? It was a lifestyle show, but I think you did a lifestyle.
Lifestyle. If you want to get right with your lifestyle, check out Frankie B's new video.
I wonder if she watched some of his episodes to get ready for it. Oh, listen.
I'm sure that Meghan Markle is tuned right into Frank Bernardo. Bernardo.
Bernardo. Even he says his name wrong.
Bernardo. Bernardo.
In the greater Chicagoland area. People, by the way, love Frankie B.
I mean, every every time we do an episode we just get so much feedback about our frankie b episodes and i wish that there was more to do but i think we've done run out he's got a girlfriend he's got a girlfriend she's not letting him anywhere near the youtubes but don't fear not if you've heard any of frankie's relationship advice he'll soon be back to youtube at 72 years old we didn't find his social media so there's that's good um but actually i applaud megan on this one because apparently she called it a love letter to southern california um and all things wonderful listen i personally i think some of the content that they're producing for netflix is a little tone deaf in general but okay whatever i mean there's, there's lots of cooking shows out there and a lot of them focus on the higher end. What's that one? The Ina Garden, In the Garden or Ina Garden? There's Ina Garden, there's Martha Stewart.
There's a whole channel now, a whole cooking channel. Yes, there is.
Have you seen this? Of course, it's been around forever. No, not the cooking channel.
There is a cooking channel.

I know about the cooking channel.

I'm saying a cooking channel, like a chef channel, a food-related channel that is dedicated to just like food porn.

It's a lot of-

Oh, I've heard of that.

Have you heard of this one?

I can't remember the name of it, but I saw it at a doctor's office once.

And it was literally- I was waiting for like a half an hour, and it was literally just shots of food with not a lot of talking in beautiful settings in france and you know i'm sure in the wine country and all this other stuff um so you know i understand that there's like a there is a demand for that kind of content that people like to see their food being cooked in beautiful settings and eaten by beautiful people and all that shit but it's kind of a do or die for megan and I like partly it's because we know people that live out there and who are our own agent has been, you know, him and I have been in conversations and he lives close to one of the fires. And they have been getting all kinds of notifications.
You're in, you're out, you're in, you're out, you're in, you're out. That must be a terrible way to live.
And then they went out without power for four or five days, which if you've ever done is a very uncomfortable situation.

Yeah, it's incredible. I feel so bad too for just like the children of, you know,

because I guess schools have been closed, obviously, and things. And I can't imagine being a young child and knowing that you're home burned.

No.

That's so traumatic.

That is like, I mean, I have never been through a fire, but that has got to be one of the things

that no pun intended gets seared into your psyche and that you just can't forget as a child. That's

I want to see you next time. I mean, I have never been through a fire, but that has got to be one of the things that, no pun intended, gets seared into your psyche and that you just can't forget as a child.
That's one of the basic fears of humanity, getting eaten by some wild animal, shark, or getting bitten by a snake. I think those things we're just born with because it's a fight or flight response.
Fire is one of those things, super helpful, but very scary, right it can go either way it's like it can get out of control um very quickly so our hearts go out and russell was supposed to be with us last week talking about his new special that was that came out on the 15th um but he's here today because he was in la and had to get out very quickly to make sure that um he and his family were safe so russell Russell Howard is an extraordinarily popular comic out in the UK.

Some might say the most popular comic that's working from the UK right now.

And he has had so many television shows on the BBC.

He's been on for like 20 years. Yeah, so many different iterations of Russell Howard.

He did a, I guess the best, the thing that we can liken it to the best, the thing that I think he's most known for, at least from my research, because I don't live in the UK. You are a British expert.
I am a British expert on television, that's for sure. I love that British television.
And anytime someone British from the British television comes in, I do get a little fanboy-y. I'm like, oh.
I know, a little giddy. Yeah, it's, I don't know why, I just, I'm so giddy about British comedy in general.
But the thing that he's probably best known for is the Russell Howard Hour, which is a television show that ran for some 200 hours over there. And it's kind of like our daily show.
It's like satire about pop culture and news and politics, stuff like that. There is a ton of that on his YouTube channel.
I will put Christina, not I, Christina, will put those links. Thank you, Christina.
Thank you, Christina. You're welcome.
We'll put those links in the show note. Also to his tours, to tour tickets that are mainly on the West Coast.
But if you're near, you should go check him out. He's going to be doing smaller venues here than he does.
Or if you're in Helsinki. Oh, yeah.
That's where he's going to be starting off. Or Budishbest.
For our... Sorry, that was an automatic play.
Oh, okay. I see what's going on over there.
She's on Russell. She's...
Even she's bored with us. I pulled up the YouTube to put the link in the show notes.
Sue me.

So anyway, so Russell's doing that tour here in the United States.

Tickets are available. We'll put a link and then

you can go to this Drift website

and get access to his brand new

special. Highly suggest you do because even

Jeff's laughing. Even Jeff

is laughing. That's right.

Okay, so let's do this. Why don't we take a short

break? We'll bring Russell on

through telepodcasting magic.

And then when we get back,

our conversation with Mr. Howard.

Did you know that we have a phone number?

Well, we do.

And you should call us.

Nobody's going to answer,

but you can leave a voicemail for us

that we may or may not play on the show.

And if that's not the vibe,

then just send us a text, okay? Our number is 212-433-3TCB. So get texting and give us something to talk about, please.
We need it. While you're doing that, you can also follow us on Instagram at The Commercial Break and on TikTok at TCB Podcast.
And as always, check out our website, tcbpodcast.com for all of our audio and video content. Speaking of video, we are also posting full video episodes at youtube.com slash the commercial break.
So go watch them, please. Anyway, now let's hear from our sponsors and get back to the good stuff.
Hey, Russell, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
Thank you so much for having me i'm worried about your uh your sign in the background that looks precarious it feels like it's gonna it looks like it's gonna fall we are not sure who actually put that up so there's a running gag on this show and it's actually not really all that funny to us here in the studio but technically we are inept it is tape we're five years into this we're a thousand hours worth of programming into this you don't know how much goes wrong technically on the show tape here wires there but that's the way isn't it the best things the best things in life are rickety do you know what i mean that's what gives them spirit if you see a nice clean suitcase at airport there's no mystery there's. Do you know what I mean? That's what gives them spirit.
If you see a nice, clean suitcase at an airport,

there's no mystery.

There's no excitement.

You know,

I want to see bumps and scrapes.

Well, next time you're

in Atlanta, Georgia,

you come to our house

and we'll have to lift you

into the studio

to avoid knocking over

any wires.

Most importantly,

since you're the only

British person

we're going to have

on the show this week,

we have to ask, who is Robbie Williams and why is he a chimpanzee? And how's this playing out in the UK? It's so interesting because Robbie Williams is a massive pop star in the UK and Europe and Australia, but never kind of made it to the United States. And I thought that as well well I was in LA last week and saw these huge hundred foot posters of Robbie as a monkey and I thought that's an odd selling point because presumably if America does fall in love with the simian version they're going to be so disappointed when they actually go to see Robbie Williams and go oh it's just a man because it would be bewildering to see a monkey with the ability that robbie's got but that i would pay for well this is it but this is the problem i think he's inadvertently stumbled into the the if the film goes massive there's gonna be lots of really giddy americans rocking up presumably with bananas and tires

just to fling them at him to see what tricks he can do but the british uh fans i think we find it really interesting because it's a bit like um i mean he's huge it's you know he's as big as ed sheeran in this country so it would be i guess you know ed sheeran instead of doing like a straight documentary is like I'm going to be a flamingo

just want one leg

do you know what I mean

just country so it would be i guess you know ed sheeran instead of doing like a straight documentary is like i'm gonna be a flamingo just want one leg do you know what i mean just like exactly to kind of make it to to make it different but i guess if people don't know who you are it is utterly bewildering but there's something kind of cool about it as well is i agree with you here is that like as a story device i can understand why i'm the monkey and you know i play like a monkey and i sing for a month you know i can understand like there it could be a deeper meaning behind it and it could all play out well and apparently it's been received well by critics and the golden globes and maybe oscar talk i don't know it made about five hundred thousand dollars in its opening weekend here in the united states which is by all stretches a hot flop, right? So I don't think that the, I don't think we've bought into this yet, but you know, we know Robbie, we know of Robbie Williams. And when we, when I see his face, I'm like, oh, that's, that's a singer from the UK who has done very well for himself.
But the challenge is, is that, you know, there's an old saying in Hollywood, never work with children or monkeys. And he went straight for monkey and i just think i just think maybe it was not yeah as a plot device maybe not such a hot thing but is it is it playing well over there do people are people going to see it and they like i don't know i honestly don't know but the because i only saw the poster of it um when i was in la and i was like shit is that how a rob he's a monkey now okay you know and so it was but because of the you know the backdrop of horror that was going on in la it just i didn't sort of linger on that but it was kind of in amongst the sort of black smoke i saw that i was like fuck that's odd but yeah i do this i i haven't uh i haven't kind of sat and thought about it but it would be like you know when john oliver got his break to do the daily show if he he came as an animal you know you've got the thing is if you're trying to break america you have to then stay as the animal yes yeah but americans are dumb if you if you start off as a chimpanzee we're gonna be we're going to be confused I don't know I think I think if anyone introduced themselves

as a chimpanzee, we're going to be confused.

I don't know.

I think if anyone introduced themselves as a monkey and then went,

I'm only fucking around.

I'm a singer from Manchester.

Then I think the audience is allowed to go, okay, why?

I don't know.

But I was surprised how big the posters were.

They're huge. But it's a bit like know seinfeld isn't particularly big in the uk um it just never quite translated which is mind-blowing to you know americans but we that culture of kind of sitting in cafes talking about cereal that didn't exist in the 90s you know and obviously people loads of people are into it but it isn't the it just doesn't have the same resonance you know in the way that something like friends friends was massive you know or yeah there was a show in the uk called only fools and horses which is without doubt the biggest british sitcom of all time very funny and yet nobody well that's it but you've got to you know what i mean you've got to find it as an as an american you have to find it you have to understand what what does peckham mean like how does it fit here you know so it's i don't know that it's it's it's an interesting thing for robery williams but then he does like stadiums in the uk he's so big that he probably just was like i'll be a bit fun a bit of a laugh yeah you know what i mean explained it then when he was on uh i think it was graham norton he explained that the director came in said hey if this play if we if you know we have to i want a story device because the regular musical biography is played out right it's just the same we're doing the same thing over and over again let's do something different i want you to think of an animal what do you want to be he said lion he said well i don't know about a lion right so a lion would be funny because the look of fear in the audience yes you know what i mean yeah but then when the lion starts doing ballads that must be really bewildering what how was your experience out in la you know we were we were scheduled to do an interview last week and russell was stuck in the in the heat really in the heat of the moment of right as the fires started it was it was a lot of panic in the air it's horrific it was just and you know and it's still going on so it was just it was like just this i was i was only there for two days but it you know it suddenly became this you know it just disaster and then i was flying from la to new york to do the rest of the kind of pr and you know there's black smoke and there were people crying on the plane it was it was really heavy um and awful and it's still going on it's just you know these things that happen every so often that are just unfair and cruel and yeah yeah and they seem to they seem to be happening more often or at least we get that news so quickly now that it's like you know cycle after cycle of kind of these things and we have friends and family in la and it's brutal it's apocalyptic it really is it's it's weird and apocalyptic and you know you never that's just not something that's on your bingo card.
Earthquakes happen all the time. Hurricanes you see coming.
Tornadoes you can kind of predict. Something that happens here in the United States.
But flash fire that takes out thousands of structures is really terrible. Russell, I have a question for you.
I want to just step back for one minute on something you said. When you come to America, you're going to be on tour here looks like you're hitting a lot of the the west coast uh cities out there when you come to the united states what are the differences in the audience tastes do you have to tailor some of your comedy for and i'm really interested to hear this answer from a from a british comic do you feel like you have to tailor a little bit the jokes i know you might might have to take out some of the slang that you typically, you might use that's familiar to the audience over the pond, but tell me about that experience when you come here to the States.
It's, it's, I love it because it's kind of like the gigs aren't as big as the ones, you know, not, not dissimilar to, to Robbie. I don't put on the, the Simeon suits, but I kind of, you know, I come with my own skin and there's a better way of putting it than that but I kind of I I I'm used to doing certain rooms in kind of you know in the UK and Australia and Europe but big rooms you're trying to say big you do big yeah but still you know it's still that thing of like doing kind of you know 500 seater or 1000 seater is still wild and and so exciting so so and the the electricity we did a gig in detroit last time i was there it was like a 400 seater great and oh my god but the audience it was just it was so electric in a way that british audiences can be kind of quite tough to kind of you know sort of fold the arms and you sort of know you've got them if they're kind of the tits hang free you know what I mean that's kind of it but I've always had whether because some Americans have found me out and they're excited that I'm there but I've always noticed the audiences more than meeting me halfway and kind of they've seen loads of my stuff on YouTube or Netflix so I'm amazed at how much they they kind of know and they kind of get me I guess it would be a bit like I don't know you know Michael Shea or Michelle Wolfe doing gigs in London you know sure if they're doing Leicester Square the audience are going to go are going to know michelle wolf you know they're not they're not going to sort of stumble in yeah so i love it and i kind of find it i find it so fascinating gigging around the country like it's so brilliant to get that kind of street level knowledge of america yeah there's so many different americas and it's such a big country and and and it's the it but it is the country that the world looks to and it's in such a interesting state of flux and kind of yeah but but but within that is so much kind of like social commentary and sort of like interesting comedic analysis and there's things you see like there's things you see in america you don't see i saw a homeless man outside a hotel for dogs and it was this like so the man had no home and the dog was on holiday and it was this kind of amazing sort of image yes of decadence that this man would have a better life if he was kim kardashian's labrador and that is true sad and funny and interesting but but as an english person i've never seen a hotel for dogs so and and then and that is ludicrous enough but when you see a homeless man being moved along because that's where the dogs like to sunbathe that struck me as funny and unfair and wild and it's sort of it's a brilliant dark comedic um analysis of the kind of weird disparity of wealth do you know what i mean so yes that's the point i make it's kind of and i think if you had three words to describe the united states of america it would be funny create unfair and wild that's just like that is the story well well done well you're absolutely right but you're yeah but then it's that thing who wouldn't want to you know take part of the kind of you know get on the ride so that's and and then interesting talking because essentially that's what stand-up is i've got a show but you know i might see things during the day and then being able to talk them out with the audience you kind of get this i don't know it feels like every show is kind of unique because american cities are unique like atlanta is such a different place to new york which is a very different place to detroit is such a different place to New York,

which is a very different place to Detroit,

which is a different place to Pittsburgh, you know.

And you kind of, yeah, I kind of,

and it just, it gives you a layer.

It gives you an extra layer as an English comic

because you're on holiday

and you feel like weirdly you're representing your country

and you're analysing theirs on top of all the kind of natural stand-up that i have anyway so i love it you poke at the politics of the united states uh do you poke at the yeah i mean yeah i have to bone up on it i have to really because and by also i'm really interested in trying to find the middle ground because it feels like so much you know so much has been weaponized and and and people are it's so tribal and people are pitted against each other and fundamentally most people it people people aren't one thing or another but they've been forced into it whether it's politically or comedically you've got to be this and you've got to be into that whereas it's a bit like a

buffer you kind of pick and choose there's there's things that i am really right wing about there's things i'm super liberal about and that's everybody i think and the the brilliant thing about laughter is that it's always it's so kind of connecting like when you're kind of lost in laughter you realize like that for me looking at the fact that you know you have homeless people in a hotel for dogs like that's interesting irrespective of your kind of um political approach and also here's the big thing if you voted for trump that doesn't define all of your personality like and i think that's the big thing that it's kind of and if you vote for biden that doesn't define all of your personality. And I think that's the big thing.
And if you vote for Biden, that doesn't define, you know what I mean? I'm interested in moving those things away and trying to find the kind of meat of it. I think this is happening throughout the world, this kind of tribalism.
I mean, I only live here in the United States, but to travel a lot. And I see, you know, my father-in-law who lives in Venezuela is fond of saying extremes on both sides end up in the same place.
And that's why you need that healthy push in Poland. I am very much what you just said.
I am not all against everything that Trump says. I am not all for everything Biden says.
I have my preferences. But at the end of the day, this tribalism makes people feel like they belong.
And I think that's really where the story is. The story is there's something going on in this world.
And I think it might be the disconnection and loneliness that makes us feel like if we are on a team, if we are a Packers fan, if we are a Trump supporter, if we're British comedy fans, we can get on and knock the American comedy fans on Reddit because that makes us feel like we're part of something. Where did we go wrong that this type of identification makes us feel like we're someone? It's funny, eh? Yeah, but it's… That's the story to me, I think think it's because it would appear that religion has been replaced with podcasts i think that's what's happened i think people have put put down the bible you know but again it's a really good example of like fair enough of of kind of people i think with podcasts particularly you have such a connection with them because people will be going to work with you guys you're in there you're in their ears so you're part of the time you're totally and it and it's a it's really it's a really tight authentic lovely connection and i think like if you don't have you know if society has changed and my god it changed during covid it's kind of it's so these become the constants you become the constants you're the chat people are kind of listening to you and it's i don't know did you i read this and i looked for it but i don't know where it is did you do a series during 2020 and 2021 where you were in your childhood bedroom talking to everybody on a

daily basis or weekly basis yeah during covid yes yeah so i'm basically my wife's a doctor and she was supposed to come on tour with me and she was having like a career break in 2020 and she had she was off work and then covid really kind of escalated and she kind of knew she had to go back and uh two of her friends lived with elderly relatives and this was the beginning of covid when we didn't kind of know what it was it was big and scary big scary masks didn't you know know what anybody know anybody yeah exactly stuff so her two friends came to live at our house and then i was kind of like like shipped off like an evacuee to go and live with with my parents for kind of two months which was a real you know so and and i got offered um the chance to do my show you know just on uh on a computer, on a laptop and then kind of send it in so we did that for two months and um yeah it was great it was like it was great in terms that it gave me a focus and it gave people something to kind of watch i guess because nothing was getting made so it was there was a while where yeah we were kind of like the only kind of comedy show that was still being made but it was i'll tell you what it was the green room was less cool you know if you do a tv show normally you kind of you know you go into the bar afterwards your mom's kitchen it was exactly that it was like my mom and my dad who was really into spinning you know bike riding at the time so yeah exactly so i'd see my dad's sweaty mantis and um and my mom going do you fancy a glass of white so it just wasn't as wasn't as rock and roll but you know listen it it kind of you know what it's like that's what we realized that's when we started the the show. And I swear, this may have saved our lives.
And we do hear from a lot of people, people who I don't know, I wouldn't classify them as lonely. They're just human beings that are looking for connection.
And this is part of the way that they feel that connection. Some girls in a factory doing whatever, making widgets or whatever she does.
And there's a thousand hours of the commercial break she can listen to while she's doing that and it makes her feel better. And so I imagine, and we started this during COVID, this was more of a saving grace for us at the time because no one was listening.
But yeah, but I imagine you were a saving grace for a lot of people also because you were some kind of real connection on the TV that was actually going through it. Have seen the morning show on apple tv i have seen this no so jennifer aniston plays a morning yes i've seen yeah i've heard of it so there's a whole plot line where she starts doing the show from her bedroom because she has covid and when i read this about you i was like he's the real life morning show jennifer aniston you're um the russell howard hour is you're like what 200 you were 200 hours into this or something yeah we kind of i think we yeah that show doesn't run anymore but we uh god we do specials we're just doing the specials we did like oh how many flipping heck like i think we did 10 series of it and before that we did like eight series of a show called russell howard's good news so yeah it was kind of it's a long old long old time but i loved it it's kind of there's a weird i think because satire has kind of migrated over to the internet that it just isn't the resale isn't there so that's kind of why they don't really get made in the uk anymore so we don't we had an election and we had no kind of topical comedy which is a bit of a shame but um i think the show is brilliant and you can check it out on youtube yeah there's loads of it like clips yeah yeah there's a lot of it and what's funny is the news is so cyclical so you can you know it's amazing yes you're right about that watching clips of it and going oh my god how is this still yeah how did this come back around how did this come back yeah it's so um it's so fascinating but that's kind of uh yeah that's kind of where i i guess i kind of cut my teeth properly um so russell you in your new special which is brilliant by the way thank you for providing screener.
I know it's out now as this show will be released. It's, it's out now.
It's on a platform called drift. Is that right? You've got, that's right.
You can go to your website. Yeah.
You can stream it through my website. So my website is www.russell.com.au.
Links in the show notes, everybody. So just go there and we'll link to the special and we'll link to the website.
Also, this special is hilarious. It's brilliantly funny.
It's kinetic. Your type of comedy is kinetic.
It can be physical. You're really funny.
You're really good at pointing out hypocrisy on all sides of the spectrum and then making it funny. And I really enjoyed it.
One of the things that you said that really resonated with me, you were talking about how I think the way that my brain works, this is the only job that I could ever have. And that really struck a chord with me because you walk around life, just like I do, and I'm sure Chrissy does too.
We walk around life, observing and seeing things in such a weird way that if we said those things out loud in the moment, we'd be arrested or certainly kicked out of the party. But then you get to, I get to get on a microphone.
You get to get up on stage and, and do this. Did you, were you always like this? Did you always, was comedy always a pursuit of yours? Yeah.
I've always loved making people laugh. And my mom's very funny and my dad is very distant.
So it's kind of like the perfect combo. Sounds like my parents.
Yeah, well, exactly. Sounds like our parents, yeah.
You're trying to kind of, you know, stop her. You're trying to make her, you make him laugh and her not cry.
So it was sort of that really. But yeah, I don't know.
I was always, I used to, I loved school. So I was kind of, you know, I was okay academically, but I really loved, you know, mucking around and just like everyone was funny at school.
It just felt like it was kind of like everyone's chipping in and I kind of loved that and kind of just grew up through that. And then through, I found standup and you're so right.
It's like when you find it, I imagine it's how, you know, you guys said it's exactly the same for you and you now have an, an output for it. It's probably like being a sculptor or a musician or a filmmaker or a screenwriter whatever it is but you sort of when you find that valve that you can hiss your madness out of yes and that's the great thing about stand-up that when people laugh to me it makes me feel like that they're going you're not mad it's fine because yes that's right right.
But that's all I do. I just, I kind of wander around and occasionally my brain will whisper to me and I kind of write it down in my phone and then I kind of go on stage and see whether it's interesting.
But I wouldn't have it any other way. It's not a particularly useful way to live your life.
But I think Bill Hicks called it the third eye. And it's like squeegeeing the third eye.
I'm pretty good at the third eye. You know what I mean? Even in the midst of something, I can kind of sort of observe myself.
I remember getting mugged when I was younger. And even as it was happening, I was like, it's going to be pretty funny.
Do you know what I mean? I do. And it's not kind of, you know, it's not the best way to be, but it's kind of like the eyes go slightly kind of like cloudy and you're kind of, you know, that da-da-da-da-da-da-da, like kind of right in your head.
But, you know, I bet you it's the same with loads of people where we all kind of drift off. then i'm fortunate that i get into this you know place where i can just like even the other day we're on holiday in australia which is a brilliant country and um obviously we've got my son with me and uh i there was lots of pregnant women and their partners they're doing the kind of baby moon thing i don't know if you you have that.
Yeah. You know, when you go on the, been on one, yeah.
So the last holiday. Yeah.
Really good fun. Uh, I was thinking like sort of in my head going like if, cause it was, if you were at an adults only resort and you were pregnant, but you gave birth, like, would you still be allowed to stay? Like, do you know what I mean? Dep of adults only uh well yeah it wasn't it wasn't a swinging thing but i'm sort of like but you know when like kids aren't welcome i was just and in my head i just started like laughing at the image of that and like holidays over yeah but that's what i mean of like it's a boy get out mr green we'll be giving you your bill sir you're no longer welcome at chateau adults exactly and that was but the point is i was just like alone in my own head and then uh just wrote it down on my phone and it's like i i'm sure i'll go to a gig at some stage and see if i can knock that into something yeah but you know what i mean do a lot of improv on stage yeah i kind of like i i used to do loads when i was younger but it's kind of i don't really like i don't like picking on people i've never really been into that of like kind of you know rinsing the front row like yeah roasting doesn't really like english people we're mean behind each other's backs like we would never say very polite about yeah assholes just want you to that that's what i mean but the the roast that culture just i mean it's beginning to it's sort of slightly changing but i kind of think sometimes there there is a there's a fine line between an excellent diss and just being rude to somebody yes you know what i mean and it just it always makes me feel a bit icky if you're just if you're kind of like the high status comic who's the expert and you you know you're basically calling someone's mama whore yeah you know what i mean and it just feels very kind of like it's a whole brand of comedy yeah but it's that it's some people do find it funny but totally yeah absolutely but i think there are people who do it like you said master masterfully and it's they're not it feels like at the end of the day it's done with some level of love and not at the expense of someone else's feelings and then sometimes it's just mean for the sake of being mean yeah and um you know there's whole podcasts filled with people who do that yeah but it's but but i think that thing of when something happens like organically i've always been pretty good at like i was doing a show in um where was i i was i was in uh denmark in a place called alborg um and i i said well you know what's been happening in in alborg what's what's the latest and um this lady went we shot two elephants i said what like and i said like what the you lot all that and she was like no no the government they said why a zoo and she's like what why was that it's like and she went well one of the animals one of the elephants was sick i said okay and so the other one like and she was like well we didn't want him to be lonely

so it's so bleak so then that became this whole thing of like you know you should never work for social services do you mean never never never work a suicide hotline but the the point is it kind of i love it when you can make something that's happened organically then i mean it has to become part of the show.

So the whole kind of evening

was interlinked with this kind of sort of knowledge of, you know, of how, of how they dealt with problems. But I don't, I love, I love improvising within my own head and kind of trying to kind of create a bit of magic, but I just don't, I'm not into that of you know slamming people i don't have if somebody if somebody heckles me fine that's one thing but i don't kind of go looking for the front row and you know what i mean yeah weirdly i went to see a comedian and my uh my my pa andy uh booked me the tickets and she's lovely but she kind of got me them it was like the third row like in the middle and i was like fuck they're gonna point yeah yeah and it was really but what was interesting it was really interesting to feel that fear yes like and i didn't want that i was like going god and i'm a comedian i know you know and yet in my head i'm going oh god oh god oh god yeah i just thought it must be so awful for people like some people must love it and of course but but some people must be sat there just praying yes that they're not going to be eviscerated so it just made me think small comedy clubs and it feels like if you're too close yeah and listen i'm a i'm a big boy i do this for a living you know we've been up on state you know i've seen but also my wife who is petrified of any public attention from strangers i just she already feels the fear and then i feel the fear for her and we went to a comedy club one time and this guy his whole shtick was pointing out people's physical appearances and then knocking them without them having said a word now was it funny there were parts that were funny but he was randomly going through the audience and i was like please don't pick my wife because i'm gonna have to hear about it the entire car yeah yeah please don't pick my wife and you know i think some of the okay that's a that's a valid form of comedy but it would kill me but i don't the thing that interests me is is how do you sleep because you just at night like yeah my brain does that anyway my brain does that you know what did i do wrong yeah but i'll be trying to go to sleep and my brain will remind me of some thing i did when i was 16 yes you know what i mean like do you remember that yeah do you remember that outside the pub yeah what an asshole yeah yeah like and just it reminds you of these cringe moments yeah you know so so i can't imagine like if you had a career where you were just like remember that time i'm pretty sure she was crying and it's and it's just just not, I don't know, it's easy, but it's just not as interesting as trying to kind of zone in on stuff.
Agreed. Okay, speaking of picking on people, I have to tell you this.
This is the most interesting thing I've seen in two weeks on any website ever. Right.
You, on your website, you clearly are a very popular comedian who's got accolades from all over the place and you've done it i mean you're would you consider yourself one of uh the uk's most popular comics yeah yeah probably i'm certainly yeah i'm definitely yeah your own government set up a website that tracks the popularity of comics do you know about this? I did not know this. Yougov.uk.
Is that your official government's website? I found a website, a webpage, dedicated to tracking the popularity of the comics that come from the UK. Wow.
It's crazy. Now, I'm sure there's only six people who voted on this.
It's like you know i mean it's like this random website and the government and the government is keeping track of it where are your tax dollars yeah i mean yeah that i mean that you you know people might have faults with joe biden but i can't imagine he's got a questionnaire asking people what they felt chapelle's last special you are a very popular comic by the way by some you're like number 20 you can break it down by men women oh my gen x i'll send this link to you you can check it out if you feel so inclined but johnny vegas you know johnny vegas have you heard of this guy yeah the guy from benny dorm right yeah and like the glamping show yeah he ranks so highly up there and i was like i didn't even know johnny vegas was a con

like a stand-up comic yeah he was he's a great he hasn't done stand-up for many years but again so clearly they've asked a lot of people in the north of england but he was he was a phenomenal comedian he was really like in his pomp my god yeah he was he basically played the role of a light entertainer

who

his life had unraveled and he used to do like live pottery on stage this is kind of like yeah this is like the mid 90s and um he he would have a story about uh how his dad made him eat his pet rabbit it was all Like really dark and he was like making pottery as he did it um yeah so i doubt but but maybe you know maybe people had seen him live i don't know but he's a really great comic but and well listen the only thing that i knew him from was benedorm right but then i i somehow got on down the rabbit hole and then i watched his show on glamping i won't go too far off on this but i watched the show on glamping where he's just like he's trying to start this uh camping park right rv park or whatever by making these things i found him to be a very lovely lovely human being a complete opposite of what you see on benny yeah he's a really he's a really gentle soul he's wonderful he's really really funny but um yeah there's um i'm trying to think there's a great um clip of him he did just for laughs the montreal comedy festival oh yeah yeah i think you know you've got to do seven minutes they have lawyers who check your jokes all very kind of regimented and i think he went on and did uh 15 minutes and uh obviously this was before the uh you know the stories about no no there's the stories that came out about bill cosby because he kept saying i could have been the next bill cosby but you lot had to fucking play god and it's just this utterly bewildered uh canadian audience but um it's pretty legendary it's worth a spin if you if you want to see a great comedian going down in flames then i would recommend that chrissy he might be a we might be uh you know beloved podcasters and he might be a beloved comic but you have never been named uh the uk's weirdest crush of 2013 did you know you you were named UK's weirdest crush of 2013? What is that all about? Well, basically, there's a big magazine called Heat over here, which is like a showbiz mag. And I was voted the weird crush.
So the person that, I guess, women and some men fanci, but felt terrible about. So it's kind of, it says a lot about kind of like male ego that I was kind of delighted, but like, like as in, like, I just can't imagine a world in which like, like people going off, is there a girl you fancy, but you'd feel fucking awful for admitting it.
Do you know mean that's the thing that would be but that would be that would make the press like if people were saying that they so yeah i was kind of i was uh essentially the nation's pity fuck that's kind of what i was uh do you get followed by the press over there oh yeah yeah so it's kind of like it's kind of weird really because i would describe myself as a famous comedian rather than a celebrity you know and it's kind of so i've never really been to kind of red carpets or anything like that i've been to you know i went to my sister's my sister did a premiere for a film once and i went to the in-betweeners film but aside from that it's just not my thing I don't really sort of so I've never lurked in that kind of world of showbiz but I've been on tv for like

20 odd years and you know done arenas yeah yeah exactly so it's kind of so when I do yeah when I

kind of do press then sometimes it kind of like my during covid we were supposed to be going on

my brother's stag to you call it a bachelor party yeah but obviously we couldn't and i was doing an interview with uh lorraine who's really lovely kind of early morning um kind of tv host and um i got out kind of pint of cider because it was supposed to be my brother's stag do and just kind of downed it just was in the

middle of this you know like you know essentially news more just like drinking like yeah like really rough cider and that went pretty wild like it was kind of all over just like howard drinks for breakfast and it was just a joke to my brother and all his cousins so yeah i have to be pretty um you think sometimes yeah it's just

that odd thing isn't it of like you know like like even in the special that that is true that line of you know it was in the paper that somebody said that i was obsessed with the idea of running a gym but only for grannies so it's just kind of yeah things i say on podcasts sometimes end up in the press so So it's pretty wild. Well, we can only hope.

Yeah, man.

I'm sure.

I'm sure.

Hope.

People can find the special now available on your website.

That's right.

We're going to put links in the show notes.

He's doing a tour mainly of the West Coast of America, but we'll put the links there.

Oh, that'd be amazing.

Russell, go ahead.

Sure.

Please.

I have been dying to know because we have discovered the show Naked Attraction.

Yes.

Oh, do you watch that?

Yeah.

Dying to know, have you ever known anybody that's been on there?

No.

Or known someone that knew someone?

Because, I mean, the show is so wild.

Yes.

And so fascinating.

It must go against everything that you think of of British people. Yes yeah exactly yeah no prudishness yeah it was funny isn't it like america it's it's so lovely to come to america because you were sort of regard us as like these regal noble beasts and yet it's because we're far away from you we're close to we're close to europe and they know the truth about us.
And the truth is that we have a dating show for people who don't know what naked attraction is, where the people meet naked and you have like five women or five men behind five kind of capsules. And you sort of gradually, you know, you lift it you start from the pelvis so you'll just you know you'll just see the the cock or vagina of the uh of your potential you know a fiance yeah and and they they literally kind of talk about their bits like yes like um very clinically clinically but like but like in the same way you might talk about like buying veg at a supermarket it's so kind of like like yeah and i think one of the famous lines is are you a muff man you know and uh and this guy got well you know i don't mind i don't however she wants to do it is fine so it's it's it's kind of weirdly it's it's like a cross between a porn film and like uh wallace and gromit episode yes do you know what i mean there's kind of weirdly, it's like a cross between a porn film and like a Wallace and Gromit episode.
Yes. Do you know what I mean? There's kind of a lot going on.
But yeah, I don't know anyone who's been on it. But it's a really good question because presumably they know people.
So their life must forever be different. Do you know what I mean? Like a financial advisor or a plumber.
So we have broke down a couple of these videos. So watched them here in the studio and then commented on them as we're watching them.
And our listeners are floored. Last time we did it, it was a woman with men.
And we just talked about penises for an hour. And I think that probably half our audience tuned out.
the we have always wondered about this show it's available on a on our one of our streaming platforms here hbo max now i'm not sure how many people watch it but we've always wondered who's going to the grocery store the next day i mean if you just everybody in the entire world just saw your cock and now you're cold naked everything yeah exactly and it's just's so weird. But it...
It boggles the mind. It boggles the mind.
It really does. Yeah.
And it's... That is the show, isn't it? You almost want to follow them around afterwards.
Yes. Do you know what I mean? And just kind of...
You're so right about this. We need a where are they now after the dates.
And I mean, I know they show the first date that they go on, but Naked Attraction, one of my favorite oddities currently anywhere in the world. Absolutely.
Russell's special is brilliant. It is available on his website.
Again, links in the show notes and his tour. And there is so much of Russell out there on YouTube.
We'll also link to his YouTube channel and, of course, his social media. Russell, you are welcome back here anytime we are fans of yours.
Yeah, I would love to. Whereabouts are you guys based? We're in Atlanta.
Well, I'll tell you what, if I get the chance when we're over there, I'd love to pop in. Say hello.
If you have the chance, then you've got our information. We would love that.
And if you should come close to Atlanta and do your act, we will be sitting not in the first row, but somewhere third. Excellent.
Brilliant. Well, lovely to meet you both.
Russell, you're the best, man. Get back to that kid of yours.
Thanks for coming on. We appreciate it.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to hear more of other people's drama. So help a girl out and tell us your drama at 212-433-3822.
You can text it, or if it's extra juicy, leave us a voicemail with the full story. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram at The Commercial Break and on TikTok at TCB Podcast.
And watch our video episodes at youtube.com slash thecommercialbreak. But also, you can find everything I just mentioned and more on our website tcbpodcast.com okay let's listen to our sponsors and send us your drama so fun to talk to mr russell howard and i like how he described he says you americans think that all british people are reserved and you know quietly funny And then he comes on and he's reserved and quietly funny.
And very nice. He's so nice.
He was great. Mo Gilligan, who was our other British comic friend that we made here on the commercial break, and Russell Howard.
Both of them are proving that British people are, in fact, a little bit reserved and very funny and very nice. So there you go.
And very naked. What's that? And very naked.
Well, there you go. On naked attraction.
I wonder, like, I think what he was trying to say is that it is as much of a sensation over there as it is over here. It's like, wow, that's crazy.
But I am still looking for that person that knows that person that was on the show. And what was their life like afterwards? How do you ever date someone again and not know that they know what your penis looks like? Do you know what I'm saying? Or use them as a plumber or your financial advisor.
When I went to the bar, at least I knew that I had my sense of humor and that I, they weren't going to see my penis likely for a long time. If I go on that show, then I know it's all over.
All right. Thanks to Mr.
Russell Howard for coming in today. We certainly appreciate it.
All of his stuff will be in the show notes, links to his YouTube, links to tickets to his show. Links to his special.
Links to his website. Links to his social media.
We'll put it all in the show notes. Please do us a favor and go check out that special.
He didn't come here for his health, Chrissy. He needs people to watch that special.
Yes, he does. I think he will.
He's going to have a lot of people watching it. Oh, I think so too.
Yes. But we want to make it a thing here in the United States.

Because we know the people over there are going to watch it.

Because they love Russell Howard.

People here, do they know Russell Howard?

Do they know Robbie Williams?

No.

Is Russell Howard in fact a dolphin?

Or an octopus in a sexy wig?

We're not sure.

More info to follow.

Stay tuned to the commercial break. All right, here's info.
Go to tcbpodcast.com All the... Everything you need is right there.
We got all the audio. All the video.
Right there from one location. If you're a browser kind of person, you can watch it on your browser.
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And I have a feeling some of you are that old that you're browsing. your free sticker also hit the contact us button drop down menu i want my free shit give us your address and we'll send you something promise no must no fuss we won't ask for anything in return except for a like or a follow you could do that also astrid is imploring me to implore you to go and check us out on youtube.com slash the commercial break.
Check out the new studio. Check out the new digs.
Watch all of our episodes. Every single one of them now available on youtube.com slash the commercial break.
That includes all of our interviews. So if you want to see just how handsome Russell is compared to me, go check that out.
You can imagine both of us on Dating Naked. A Naked Attraction.
What's it called? Naked Attraction. Naked Attraction.
Dating Naked's a different show where they don't actually show anything. They just tell you they're going to show something, but they don't really.
I just noticed the camera keeps swaying over to one side. Are you noticing that? Our camera doing its own camera tricks.
That's kind of cool. He likes to do that.
There you go. All right.
Add the commercial break on Instagram. TCB podcast on TikTok.
If TikTok's still around, I think it will be. I think Trump just invited the CEO to the inauguration, so I think we're all good.
212-433-3TCB. 212-433-3822.
Questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas, all there. Please, talk to us.

We want to hear from you.

All right, Chrissy.

I think that's all I can do for right now.

I think so.

I'll tell you that I love you.

And I love you.

Best to you.

Best to you.

Best to you out there in the podcast universe.

Until next time we talk, Chrissy and I will say, we do say, and we must say.

Goodbye. Bye.
Kiss me.