10 Famous Comedians With Dark Sides You Didn’t Know About
8. Russell Brand
Love him or loathe him, this is a comedian who isnt afraid to say it like it is. How many people with Shagger Of The Year award do you see engaging at the frontline of politics? Brand has spoken out against drug laws, the voting system and has now created a YouTube show The Trews which analyses news in a truthful, spontaneous and refreshing manner. Aside from the activism, its his stand-up that shot him into the limelight; the Brand we know today. His insightful and playful intellect make him a significant force in comedy, popular culture and politics.
So what's behind the loud-mouthed, big-haired persona? A deeply unhappy childhood; drink, drugs and sex addiction, that's what.
Though now sober for 11 years, a large part of his life was spent taking hard drugs - acid, coke, crack, heroin - every single day. His father left when he was six months old and only saw him on rare visits, of which hed take him out to meet prostitutes. When he was seven, Russell was sexually abused by a tutor, his mother was diagnosed with three bouts of cancer before he reached ten, and he developed bulimia at 14. There was a period of self-harming, and Brand was diagnosed with ADHD as well as bipolar disorder. In the same nature as innumerable comedians; his grim past, alcoholism and promiscuity have all been a rich source for his stand-up material.
Russells Best Lines
'Glad to grace the stage where Boris Johnson has just made light of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, meaning that GQ can now stand for genocide quips. I mention that only to make the next comment a bit lighter because if any of you know a little bit about history and fashion, you'll know Hugo Boss made the uniforms for the Nazis. But they did look f****** fantastic, lets face it, while they were killing people on the basis of their religion and sexuality.'
My personality just does not work without fame. Without fame, this haircut is just mental illness.
"Murderers! Stop murdering. Everyone will die eventually. Just sit down and be patient."