RUSSELL BRAND | TimeOut Comedy Award Winner
Controversy follows Russell Brand seemingly everywhere he goes. Off to a flying start in 2000 Brand reached the finals of the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year competition, appeared in Edinburgh for the first time and as a result landed his own series on MTV. However his addiction to heroin somewhat affected his work. Sacked in 2001 after coming to work dressed as Osama Bin Laden after 9/11, he got a new show Re:Brand(UK Play), the filming of which saw him masturbate a man and challenge his father to a boxing match.
"He's a giddy, capering class-A fool" THE TELEGRAPH
Having been through rehab Russell returned in 2004 as the host of Big Brothers Big Mouth on E4, and took his first solo show to Edinburgh. "Better Now" was to be the first of three solo shows in consecutive years, that would help cement Brand as a household name. It was at this Time we saw Russell at Comedy Carnival, his last appearance being in December 2005.
"Extremely funny" THE INDEPENDENT
Since then, we have witnessed Brands ascension, with a best selling book and DVD's, a plethora of his own TV shows and several appearances in Hollywood films, all this despite the 'Sachs-gate' scandal, and his subsequent dismissal from the BBC.
