Good News Hunting
NME|March 03 2017

Telly funnyman Russell Howard has just kicked off a massive world tour that puts him firmly in comedy’s premier league. He tells Larry Bartleet why he’s not yet demanding Weetabix from strangers

Good News Hunting

You’re famous for talking about good news, but there’s not loads of it about at the moment. Has that impacted on your new touring show?

“Yeah, it’s loads of stuff about politics. Loads of stuff about anger. Yeah, it’s mostly politics and anger at the moment. I don’t think we’ve ever been more divided. It’s only right-wing f**k-knuckles that grab the public’s attention – Farage or Trump or Le Pen or Wilders from Holland. You think, ‘Where are our Gandhis?Where are our Martin Luther Kings?’”

What are your politics?

“I think all our leaders are utterly beneath us. You just watch Prime Minister’s Questions and go, ‘How is this the best that we’ve got?’”

Didn’t you once get approached by some political parties for advice on talking to young people?

“They interrupted when I was watching The Secret Life Of Pets. Like, I am not the go-to person to fix this country. You know you’re in real trouble when you’re thinking: ‘OK, ask that bloke off the telly, see what he thinks.’ Where does that f**king end up – door stepping Joey Essex? Like, ‘Alright, he wants inflatables. Can we get some?’”

You’re really quite famous now, Russ. How do you stay grounded?

This story is from the March 03 2017 edition of NME.

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