Russell Brand has given a new interview to the New Zealand Herald talking about his stand up comedy act, ‘I Am Walrus’. He talks about reading a lot, and the difference between movies and doing standup.
He says about movies, “Stand-up is good for me, because it's a natural extension of what I'd be doing anyway. When I was a kid I thought I would make movies for nothing, just for the glamour and the excitement, but making movies really is work. Whereas stand-up for me, it's a privilege to be able to talk to people, and to hear people laugh and make them happy."
He talks about the ‘performance’ required in stand-up, saying, “ "You highlight the parts of yourself that are relevant - you don't bring up the side of yourself that's a little bit morose and lost. That's not appropriate. It's just the same as if you're going round to somebody's grandmother's house for a cup of tea, you behave differently than if you're at some sort of bacchanalian orgy. One must recognize context!"”
He also talks about after giving up all the privacy in his life, he has nothing left to lose. "I will be truthful and honest, I'm a man with nothing left to lose. All I want to do is express myself, and I think I've been constrained and contained for a long time, and this is an opportunity to essentially have a mental breakdown on stage," he finishes with a gleeful laugh. "Just come!"
