British Comedy Guide
Russell Kane
Russell Kane

Russell Kane

  • 49 years old
  • English
  • Actor, writer and stand-up comedian

Press clippings Page 23

Having recently come back from the Fringe this week I thought to myself: "Do you know what I need? To watch some more stand-up comedy."

BBC Three has been broadcasting a selection of Fringe programmes. One of these is Edinburgh Comedy Fest, hosted by Jon Richardson, featuring a selection of stand-up comedians and musical comedians performing at the Fringe.

Alongside Richardson were Josh Widdicombe, Neil Delamere, Abandoman, Seann Walsh, Mark Watson, Russell Kane, David O'Doherty, Andrew Lawrence, Ron Vaudey, Jimeoin, Tom Stade, Ed Byrne and Shappi Khorsandi. I don't know about you, but to me that seems a bit too much.

This programme only lasted an hour, and there were 14 different acts. On average they performed less than 5 minutes each. Also, as far as I know, Vaudey isn't even performing at the Fringe. What's more, it was not exactly that diverse. Granted there were comedians from abroad (Canadian, Irish, Iranian), but there was only one woman performing and one non-white person performing - and that was the same person.

In this short format, some comedians did come across better than others. Widdicombe, Delamere and O'Doherty got the laughs, while Vaudey seemed to be a bit flat. I think it would've been a better show if there were more episodes that were of a shorter length. And more variety in terms of style of performers and their backgrounds would be nice, too.

Ian Wolf, Giggle Beats, 29th August 2011

Edinburgh fringe comedy round-up

From Andrew Maxwell and Sarah Millican to Russell Kane and Meryl O'Rourke, Stephanie Merritt reviews the best of this year's Edinburgh comedy.

Stephanie Merritt, The Observer, 21st August 2011

Lee Nelson, whose thunderously unfunny Well Good Show sank on BBC3 last year, gets another shot at the big time, acting as compere for gaggle of up and coming British comedians in the BBC's specially designed Edinburgh auditorium. Regular BBC3 viewers will recognise a fair few of the wide-eyed, hyperactive standups on show here, including Charlie Baker, David O'Doherty and Russell Kane, who seems to be on just about everything at the moment.

Gwilym Mumford, The Guardian, 19th August 2011

A night of stand-up from the Edinburgh Festival. Online and interactive links mean viewers can even heckle performers. Our hosts are Lee Nelson (a character played by comedian Simon Brodkin), Russell Kane (who won the award for the Fringe's best stand-up last year) and Charlie Baker.

Simon Horsford, The Telegraph, 18th August 2011

Video: 'Dreams made, hearts broken' at Fringe

Edinburgh's annual Festival Fringe begins in August, showcasing hundreds of comedians and other artists for three weeks at venues around the Scottish capital.

Comedians Russell Kane and Roisin Conaty, who both won awards at last year's Fringe, joined BBC Breakfast to talk about the pitfalls of performing at the world's largest arts festival.

BBC News, 2nd August 2011

Sarah Millican & Russell Kane on favourite Fringe place

Edinburgh Festival Fringe regulars give us their insiders' insight.

The List, 8th July 2011

This now long-running Channel 4 panel game has seen some changes over the years. In this series, Jon Richardson has replaced Jason Manford as team captain; the opening round, "What Are You Talking About?", also now only covers the top three most talked about things in Britain as opposed to the original five. The other major change is that the total scores are no longer mentioned, with host Jimmy Carr now simply saying who's won, rather like Mock the Week.

The one major problem I have with 8 Out of 10 Cats is that almost every time there is always one guest who you'd rather not have on the programme. I went through the panel before the show began thinking to myself: "Russell Kane - established, award winning comic and deserves to be on. Josh Widdicombe - a relatively unknown comic who can use this appearance as his big break. Rachel Riley - well, as someone who regularly co-presents Countdown she has experience of quiz formats. Alex Reid - oh, damn!"

However, having said that, I did enjoy the fact that Reid didn't take himself too seriously, taking part in some pretty self-deprecating humour. However, the guest comics, as to be expected, did perform better; Kane's story about a woman he accidentally offended on a train was a particular highlight.

Ian Wolf, Giggle Beats, 20th June 2011

Russell Kane gets Radio 2 stand-up series

Foster's Comedy Award winner Russell Kane is set to present his own stand-up roadshow on Radio 2.

British Comedy Guide, 13th June 2011

Russell Kane wins Barry Award for best in show

Tough times can be a boon for funny business. We need a laugh, and comics need a quid. Perhaps that's why this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival saw an unprecedented number of Barry Award winners returning to Melbourne's stages: last year's best of the fest Sammy J & Randy went up alongside Barry alumni Daniel Kitson, Nina Conti, Maria Bamford and The Pajama Men, many of whom enjoyed sellout shows throughout the festival.

John Bailey, The Age, 23rd April 2011

Russell Kane takes part in lie-down comedy gig

Russell Kane goes from stand-up to lie down.

The Sun, 23rd February 2011

Share this page