Russell Brand in New York City

With his wild mane of dark hair making him look like a male Medusa, Russell Brand backs up his flamboyant image with a wicked wit and self deprecating spirit that lets North American audiences see and hear the comic mind that's ruffled more than a few feathers across the pond. This concert comes after his hosting of MTV's Video Music Awards and, in tandem with his scene stealing as "Aldous Snow" in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", is from where most on this side of the Atlantic know him best.

At first, he wasn't ideal for the original role of a man who comes between Jason Segel and Kristen Bell in "Forgetting". Then the creators met him and changed the part from a button down preppy author into the wild pop star much more germane to Brand's built in flair for the comedic. Now his love life and drug soaked past are taking over publicity wise from his artistic output, as tabloids wait for the next tidbit of Russell gossip.

And here, he pokes fun at the very chaste (according to their PR) Jonas brothers, having to explain exactly why he's famous to those not fully in the know, jokes about using the internet for endless self examination (calling one vast resource "MeTube"), tells why shooting for months in Hawaii is very different from a vacationing week or two in the lovely state, deciphers various death threats sent via the true coward's medium (e-mail) and let's his very British joie de vivre run amok in New York City.

Brand has a bright future ahead of him, if he keeps choosing roles like "Aldous Snow" and sticking to his truly literate guns. This Essexian addition to Judd Apatow's repertory company is someone too smart and talented for the typical star driven vehicle films. I hope to see him in more projects worthy of his time and ours.

Brand has extravagant looks and is a tabloid item, and he can string together lots of big words and literary references at a fast pace, but it becomes quickly apparent that all of this is just a big attempt to distract you from the fact that he does not have any jokes. Almost none at all.

The audience tries its hardest to find something funny to laugh at, but it only becomes apparent he's not saying much. One of the jokes that gets the biggest laughs is his complaint about snowboarding being cold:

"Yeah...snowboarding. that's the image. snowboarding *whoosh* not snowboarding *brrr* (laughter)"

That's a... joke? What?

Here's another one that got laughs:

"It's hard you have to achieve mastery over (a horse). The instructor, very uppity: "Hey, c'mon, get on the horse! Show it you're the boss!" Am I the boss? He goes riding every day, I've only been once. (laughter)"

Again, what? That's a joke?

The most grating feature might be his insistence on adding random "difficult" words quickly to his act. It gives off the impression that he's like the student with a poorly-written essay desperate to sound smart awkwardly using the thesaurus. He also references poems and the like, which would be fine, if there was a purpose to it.

As it is, which is completely random, it seems that it's only meant to impress us with how "cultured" he is. This strategy is disingenuous at best and downright insulting to the viewer's intelligence at worst.

Brand is a celebrity attempting comedy, and it's every bit as legitimate and funny as John Mayer attempting it... which is to say, it's neither. It's a tabloid person getting a pass for lack of talent due to recognition.

That's all I can say. As a straight male I can't really vouch for whether he's cute or not, but if you do think so maybe you wanna watch this with the TV on mute. As eye-candy maybe it works, but as comedy... nooooo way.