TBS Just For Laughs

The crowd at The Chicago Theater Just for Laughs Festival welcomed Russell Brand with a warm roar much like they would a rock star. Although Brand reissued much of his old material in the show he also got some huge laughs working the crowd spontaneously and on a bit about outdated Illinois laws.

Brand has an astute, yet poetic grasp on the issues of politics as they relate to the exploitation of the masses including Gays, women and minority issues. Brand also delivered some great material about Hitler’s class photo and Che Guevara.

But his most entertaining bits were about sexuality.

"I worship women," he said. "I see them as my way back to God. There is power in the elegance of female sexuality."

Along those lines, I actually thought his riff on “Ass Jazz for the ladies” was very positive and feministic in nature.

“Referring to a woman’s anus as “a perfect aperture, so delicate and sweet it could’ve been penned by Walt Disney, so perfectly sanitary it could dispense nothing more toxic than little pink tic-tacs,” he went on to demonstrate and sing his sexual tactic of “Ass Jazz” on a lady and her beautiful screams of pleasure. Then Brand states how unfair it is to women that the guy then says to his lady turning his ass to face her,” My turn!” and began belching out  German Oompah music instead of Jazz.

Russell Brands comments on Jesus “being a nice, mellow guy who was all about kindness to women and promoting peace and love but who has been misappropriated by Christians and Catholics” was right on the money.

I would have liked to hear more comedy penned about The Messiah in his tour branded The Messiah Complex. That joke reminded me of the classic Jesus joke penned by Woody Allen in Hannah and Her Sisters, “If Jesus Christ came back to earth today and saw all of the evil that was being done in his name, he would never stop throwing up.”

At one point Russell left the stage and had the house lights turned up so he could search the crowd for an available lady to sleep with, “You might be a woman from the Chicago area thinking ‘oh, I’d love to have sex with Russell Brand but he’s so erudite and great I’m probably not good enough for him.’ Give it a shot. You probably are good enough. Have some confidence in yourself!”

Then saying to one woman who jumped up at him, “No, not you, no reason to plead or push, it’s already been decided (waving his hands over his crotch area) down here!”

Russell Brands freewheeling, psychedelic, high energy style of comedy and delivery is very much what younger generations need in order to enlighten them in a funny way to all of the ways they are being repressed sexually, spiritually and financially by our government, mass media and organized religions. My only suggestion for him is that he take some time now to write more into his Messiah Complex material about the Messiah.