Josie Long: Investigations, London
If Josie Long’s move into political campaigning was somewhat unexpected, what can you say about Russell Brand? In just a few years, he’s gone from being the genital-anthropomorphising host of a Big Brother spin-off show to the seemingly anointed voice of young people in the UK. It’s all deeply weird, especially given that Brand has always been funnier because of the way he says things, rather than what he says. His spectacular oratorical style has been the foundation of his act and is a reliable source of big laughs. The idea that he’s a fount of wisdom is a lot harder to credit, but Brand seems open about his weaknesses; he claims to be grappling with fragments of other people’s ideas as a means of making sense of the world. Trew Musings sees that in action: it’s a mix of readings, pontifications and interactive chitchat, all designed to throw a little bit of light on the chaos we live in.
The Proud Archivist, N1, Tue
John Hastings, Manchester
It must be hard to make money from comedy in Canada, because brilliant Canadian comedians keep coming over here to seek their fortunes. We’ve got Katherine Ryan colonising the panel show circuit with her bitchy one-liners, low-key maverick Mae Martin making a big splash on the alternative scene, and now there’s John Hastings, a comic with a grasp of the mechanics of stand-up that puts many of our young pretenders to shame. Like a fair few comic imports, Hastings plays heavily on a fish-out-of-water shtick, analysing our customs as an outsider and pointing out local idiocies that we’ve always taken for granted. What lifts him out of the ordinary is a remarkable gift for phrasemaking, an ability to nail an observation about British bureaucracy or lad culture with just the right snappy simile or macabre image. It’s a gift that immediately marks him out as destined for big things.
Frog & Bucket, Thu to 23 May
Russell Brand: Trew Musings, London
You might think that people go on enough about Josie Long, but that’s because she keeps bending comedy into ever more new and surprising shapes. She’s a podcaster, a film-maker, an arts-funding campaigner, and still finds the time and the creative energy to stage class-leading live shows. Her move from pure-bred whimsy to fired-up Tory-bashing has been one of the more unexpected conversions in recent years, and Investigations is the latest expression of her developing political consciousness. It promises to mix topical comedy from Long with investigative reporting from regular Guardian contributor Martin Williams. Together, the pair will expose previously unknown things about the world we live in, and then help us to deal with them using the relief valve of laughter. This mix of reportage and gags is the bedrock of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight; if Long can pull off something similar, filtered through her own unique comic perspective, then TV commissioners should take note.
The Invisible Dot, N1, Wed
