Written by Sowmya Gopi
With his British humour and paradoxical nature on full display, there’s no other comedian like Russell Brand, who closely follows the manual of how to tear up laughs with dry, sharp jokes and keeping a serious demeanour while the audience cracks up. In his new stand-up, Brand comments on a little bit of everything, forming a quilt where, in the end, the madness of our modern life mirrors itself. He makes fun of himself and the people he knows and once again shows that he has full mastery of comedic timing, and that watching this special is truly a must.
In this hour-long show, Brand comments on his current situation, how his work has been limited in the entertainment business because he is a great critic of the practices of large corporations, among other darts that he throws and that hit his targets in full. Of course, being known for strong – and even somewhat eschatological – jokes, Brand evokes completely random subjects that, organised only in his mind, serve to awaken the laughter of others.
Brand calls this hour Re-Birth in honour of becoming a father for the first time, joking in very traditional terms about his wife’s labour and childbirth, and the sudden psychological and emotional transition from man to father. Anyone who has had a baby at home knows what he’s talking about and whoever hasn’t will think twice before wanting one. It allows him to transition back to his passion about consciousness and a tangent to Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Unlike many stand-up specials shown on Netflix over the past year, Russell Brand is able to make people laugh without being forced or appealing to the use of prejudices and stereotypes to cause shock and laughter in the audience. The show does not have a definite focus, it shoots in every direction, but it hits its targets. Most fans have stated in the reviews, how paternity have made Brand a quieter man and seemed to be more restrained and focused. And to his luck, brought greater wisdom to apply his talent on a stage and somehow made him funnier.
