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Welcome back to the book club! In case you've missed any of our discussion, you can catch up here and here. Discussion Question 4: Is Russell Brand even funny?
On Friday, we asked if 9/11 humor was ever OK. In our discussion of Brand's antics on 9/12, we skirted around a bigger issue: Is this man ever funny?
Watching the MTV Video Music Awards last night, it seemed that Brand was more interested in "joking" about getting with Katy Perry than in actually writing any clever jokes. Much of his opening monologue consisted of "I told you so" follow-ups to his remarks last year about George Bush and the Jonas Brothers' purity.
In a book with the subtitle "A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Stand-Up," you need to bring the funny. Does Brand succeed? He certainly does with the "drugs" portion of the title, and as many of you commenters noted earlier this week, the sex part is tame compared to celeb memoirs like Mötley Crüe's "The Dirt."
But aside from those, the "humor" bit of his schtick seems more incidental (because he gets himself into stupid situations) than intentional (a wit or intelligence that makes stories entertaining).
"The Pink Umbrella Incident" might be one of the funniest and saddest parts of "My Booky Wook." After spitting in the face of a stripper, Brand gets locked out of his apartment -- naked. With nothing but a pink umbrella as cover, he steps into a gay bar downstairs to call a locksmith. If you haven't read the book, you can imagine the rest. Brand talked to NPR about the incident a few months ago:
A few of our friends have called Brand a "British Dane Cook" -- take away the gothy-punk get-ups and the Cockney accent and you're left with an unfunny, fratty d-bag. What's your take? Leave a comment with your thoughts. Remember, everyone who comments is eligible to win free books, Lemondrop T-shirts, and who knows what else.
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Wednesday 16 September
By ds
He is his own antagonist and he uses that in his book. He is clearly a selfish asshole but there is a very thick line between being a douchebag and being a serious misogynist.... see: Chris Brown. I may have been more disturbed when he made the prostitute cry.
All of that said I think the way he wrote the book shows that he is not exactly proud of the the shitty things he did to women... he was terrible to himself too, like revisiting a childhood trauma for the sake of television.
The funniest parts for me was when he woke up in the same bed as an immigrant family and when he went to the orgy. That orgy sounded terrible and its good to know ya know? He is funny.
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