Russell Brand: Scandalous

Recorded early last year at London's Mobile Phone Company Arena in the wake of Sachsgate, Brand - an accomplished stand-up despite the hoopla - takes on the thorny issues of his many controversies. One of the best parts sees him discussing what happened when he realised that his script for the MTV VMAs was a bit mean (ie when he called George Bush a "retarded cowboy"). He reads some of the unaired gags here including one in which he compares the Jonas Brothers' reluctance to have sex with their fans to Superman getting the bus everywhere.

There was a time, a few years ago, when it seemed that we would never see or hear the end of Russell Brand: TV channels, radio schedules and newspapers jostled with his loud-mouthed, risqué and occasionally funny presence on a near-daily basis. But then, in October 2008, the "Sachsgate" scandal hit and his broadcasting career on this side of the pond more or less dried up. This energetically confrontational stand-up show, recorded last year in London, marks a return of sorts to British TV, with topics including his disastrous hosting of the MTV Video Awards, his film career and the media scrum that engulfed him during "Sachsgate".

I know nothing could possibly endear Brand to the thousands of listeners appalled by the whole tawdry Andrew Sachs/Jonathan Ross farrago. Which is a shame. Of course it's his own fault, but the whole silly mess eclipsed Brand's gifts as a highly imaginative stand-up who's fantastically well read, with a true love of the myriad minor beauties of the English language. He's also carving himself a Hollywood career and his new film, Get Him to the Greek, has just been released, which is presumably why Channel 4 is showing this not terribly new gig, recorded at the monstrous O2 Arena in London last year. The title is the giveaway as Brand uses the gig to examine his risky exploits, including "Sachsgate" and his, ahem, controversial hosting of the 2008 MTV Music Awards.