RUSSELL HOWARD & MUM: USA ROAD TRIP SEASON 2

“Howard is routinely a delight – silly, personable and with a superb knack for observation. This king of cockle-warmers is about to rule the world” Sharon Lougher, Metro

After 2016’s incredible adventure in the USA, Russell Howard and his “twinkly eyed smasher of a mum” Ninette Howard return to our screens with a second supersized American trip. The highly anticipated 6 x 30 minute series showcasing an array of weird and wonderful characters launches on Comedy Central UK on the 26th March at 10pm. Russell Howard & Mum: USA Road Trip was the highest rating new commission on the channel the year it launched, achieving as much as +119% on the 16-34s slot average and +72% on the adults slot average. The show reached a total of 2.4 million individuals resulting in a further two six-part series in Northern Europe and Asia being commissioned and with episodes increasing in length from 30 to 60 minutes.

Spending hours on the road together in a minivan, Russell’s funny, warm and engaging relationship with his mum is once again put under the microscope as they discover the eccentricities of the land of the free. On their tour of the USA, Russell and Ninette check out the legal and recreational use of cannabis in Portland, learning how it’s made on a weed farm before trying some out for themselves (cue munchies). The pair hang out with Guns N Roses drummer Steven Adler and Kiss’ Paul Stanley at LA’s world famous Rock And Roll Fantasy Camp, where they have just 48 hours to form a band and perform their first ever gig in the heart of Hollywood. In Las Vegas, they don make-up and dresses in beauty queen training ahead of judging a Mrs. Globe Pageant during which Ninette takes an unlikely shine to a contestant. At a cowboy ranch in Oregon, they say goodbye to their city slicker ways and hello to life on the range through mastering the rope, cattle drive and a good old-fashioned hoedown. The series culminates on the 4th July with the oldest travelling side show in the country – how will Ninette survive the ultimate crime of being British on Independence Day? (Clue: badly)

As well as a regular face on TV, Russell is one of the UK’s most successful stand-up comedians breaking Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow’s record for the most consecutive nights at the Royal Albert Hall and performing the largest ever stand-up show in China on 2017’s Round The World tour, which also saw him play arenas all over the UK and runs in Canada, Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia. He is the most popular British comedian on Facebook with over 3.2 million fans and over 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

 

Russell Howard & Mum USA Road Trip will premiere on Comedy Central UK on 26th March at 10pm – 6 x 30 min

 

What the press have said about Russell Howard

“Hilarious and heartfelt” ★★★★ Bruce Dessau, The Evening Standard

“Intimate and raw” ★★★★ Mark Wareham, The Mail On Sunday

★★★★★ Sharon Lougher, The Metro

“quite possibly the most famous comedian in the UK” Larry Bartleet, NME

 

For more information please contact: Victoria Wedderburn or Dan Lloyd at Avalon on 0207 598 7222 or [email protected] or [email protected] or Amanda Browne [email protected] on 0203 580 2110 or Katy Sykes [email protected] on 0203 580 2102 at Comedy Central

 

Episode 1: Going To Pot In Portland – Mon 26th March 10pm

Russell and his mum, Ninette have arrived in Portland, Oregon. It is one of the few American States where cannabis is legal to use recreationally so the Howards are literally going to pot. While they are getting up close and personal with all things cannabis, the big question is: will Ninette have a go on the demon weed…

 

Episode 2: Beauty Pageanting in Vegas– Mon 2nd April 10pm

Russell and Ninette have arrived in Las Vegas on their All-American Road Trip. While in Sin City, the Howards have been invited to be guest judges at the Mrs. Globe Beauty Pageant, a competition for women of all ages. In order to judge women, Russell must first understand what it takes to be a beauty queen.

 

Episode 3: Rocking Out In LA – Mon 9th April 10pm

Russell and his mum, Ninette, are in LA and they are ready to rock! They are enrolling in the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, where they have 48 hours to become full blown guitar heroes and perform their first ever gig in the heart of Hollywood. There is one snag, neither of them can play a note.

 

Episode 4: Cowboy Ranching in Oregon – Mon 16th April 10pm

Russell and Ninette’s All-American Road Trip has brought them west. The Wild West to be exact. They are in cowboy country and are saddling up for a mission to become real life ranchers on the old frontier, before riding off on their first ever cattle drive.

 

Episode 5: Being Happy in Naples– Mon 23rd April 10pm

Russell and Ninette’s American Road Trip has brought them to the place voted the happiest city to live in in the USA: Naples, Florida. While in the happy capital, the Howards are on a mission to uncover if this mecca of merriment can infect them with happiness and reveal the secret to eternal joy.

 

Episode 6: Side Showing at the State Fair – Mon 30th April 10pm

It’s the 4th of July so Russell and his mum, Ninette, are visiting an All-American State Fair in Indiana to join in the celebrations. However their Independence Day is going to be anything but traditional as they have been invited to run away with the circus for the weekend and join an old fashioned American Side Show.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

About Russell Howard:

  • Russell’s Netflix special Recalibrate launched globally on the platform in December 2017

 

 

  • During Round the World, Russell’s biggest international tour to date, he performed 87 major dates with runs in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia.  This tour also saw him play a record-breaking 10-night run at the Royal Albert Hall, overtaking eight in a row jointly held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow, and the largest ever stand-up show in China.

 

  • Last summer a clip from Russell’s last stand-up show Wonderbox (2014) went viral with 15 million views in China (with Mandarin subtitles) and 55 million views worldwide.  Russell Crowe and Stephen Fry are amongst some of the Twitterati who have shared the heart-warming story of Russell and a sick fan’s triumph over adversity.

 

  • In 2016 Russell took his “twinkly eyed smasher of a mum” Ninette Howard on an eye-opening trip around the USA for a series on Comedy Central which was the channel’s highest rating original commission that year. The second series will TX in March 2018 and a further two series have been commissioned.

 

  • The last series of Russell Howard’s Good News saw three segments go viral, from a passionate backing of junior doctors and the NHS (8.2 million views and described by Huffington Post as, “incredible”), an interview destigmatising Tourettes (4.9 million views and described as, “uplifting and hilarious” by The Independent) and demonstrated the absurdity of the tampon tax (10.2 million views with Metro saying Russell, “nailed how stupid the tampon tax actually is.”)

 

  • Russell Howard’s Good News is available around the world via a YouTube channel launched in 2014 – allowing fans to watch full episodes of the show (without piracy) in countries where the show wasn’t already broadcast – and has had over 48 million views and been watched in 180 countries (including North Korea and Vatican City).

 

  • Christmas 2015 saw Russell’s first comedy-drama with the premiere of, A Gert Lush Christmas (BBC Two).   As well as co-writing the special, RUSSELL starred for the first time along-side his sister KERRY HOWARD (Him & Her, BBC Three), GREG DAVIES (The Inbetweeners, Man Down, Channel 4), NEIL MORRISSEY (Men Behaving Badly, Waterloo Road, BBC1), and SOPHIE THOMPSON (EastEnders, BBC1).

 

  • Russell’s stand-up series – Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central, which aired from April 2015 on Comedy Central (UK) achieved viewing figures of 159% above the slot average for its first episode.

 

  • Episodes of Russell Howard’s Good News have even been subtitled and uploaded to Chinese video site AcFun, where the show has also been watched over 4 million times.

 

  • Russell is the most popular British comedian on Facebook with over 3.2 million fans and over 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

 

  • 10 series of Russell Howard’s Good News has seen Russell write and star in 96 episodes.

 

  • Russell Howard’s Good News is regularly the most watched show on iPlayer across all BBC Channels.

 

  • Russell’s tour, Wonderbox (2014) – saw him perform to over 285,000 fans at 40 shows across the UK and Ireland, including four consecutive nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

 

  • Russell extended his 2014 Wonderbox tour across the world following over 17,000 suggestions from his fans after he asked them via Facebook where they’d most like to see him perform. The extra sold out dates saw RUSSELL travel to New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Auckland.

 

  • Russell’s tour in 2011, Right Here, Right Now saw him perform to over 240,000 fans across the country, including three sold out dates at London’s O2 arena.

 

  • Russell performed to over one million people on his UK and international tours from 2006-2014.

 

  • Russell has four bestselling stand-up DVDs, 2014’s Wonderbox Live, 2011’s Right Here, Right Now, 2008’s Russell Howard Live and 2009’s Russell Howard Live – Dingledodies, which have sold over 619,000 DVDs and all been in the top 5 DVD comedy chart.

 

  • Russell was voted Heat Magazine‘s “Weird Crush of the Year 2013″

 

  • Russell made 58 appearances on Mock The Week between 2006 and 2010.

 

  • In addition to being a regular on Mock The Week, Russell was twice featured on Live At The Apollo and appeared on Would I Lie To You (BBC One), Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC Two), and 8 Out 10 Cats (Channel 4).

 

  • In 2010 Russell took part in the Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride with David Walliams, Jimmy Carr, Fearne Cotton, Miranda Hart, Patrick Kielty and Davina Mccall – cycling 874 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 4 days and raising over ￡1, 337.099.

 

  • In 2010 Russell  ran the London Marathon, raising money for the National Society for Epilepsy – a condition from which his brother suffers. He completed the 26 mile course in 4 hours and 15 minutes and raised over ￡7,000.

 

  • Russell’s fifth ever stand-up gig got him to the final of Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny.

 

  • In 2006 Russell was nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Award for his show Wandering, which followed with a nationwide sell-out tour.

 

  • From November 2006 to July 2008, Russell co-hosted The Russell Howard Show (BBC 6 Music) with fellow comedian Jon Richardson in a Sunday morning slot previously hosted by Russell Brand.

 

About Avalon:

Avalon is a multi-award winning talent management, live promotion and television production group with offices in the UK and the USA.

Avalon and ARG, the talent management arm has discovered and represents many artists which are household names, both in the UK, the USA, and around the world.

In 2017 Avalon was named the number one true independent television production company in the UK and has produced numerous ground-breaking television shows including: Emmy and Peabody award winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime), RTS and Rose d’Or winning Not Going Out (the BBC’s longest running sitcom currently on air), BAFTA and RTS-nominated Taskmaster (DAVE/UKTV), multi-BAFTA award winning TV Burp (ITV1), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC2), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV) and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).

Avalon and Topical Television form the television arm of the company and other shows currently in production include: The Button (BBC One), Not Going Out (BBC One) Taskmaster USA (Comedy Central), Man Down (C4), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central), Russell Howard & Mum: Road Trip (Comedy Central), Unspun with Matt Forde (Dave) and Stand Up Central with Chris Ramsey (Comedy Central); whilst the catalogue is sold worldwide by Avalon Distribution.

Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.

For Avalon news visit: www.avalon-entertainment.com or @avalonent.

 

Comedy Central UK:

Comedy Central is a leading Pay TV General Entertainment channel and is part of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). A joint venture between VIMN (75%) and BSkyB (25%), Comedy Central airs on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms. Comedy Central launched in the UK in April 2009 and has since grown share by a phenomenal +41%. In Fiscal 2017 (Oct 16 to Sept 17). The Comedy Central Group averaged a share of 2.20%, up +8% YoY and proved the highest year ever for share.

The channel broadcasts a mix of hit US acquisitions and original UK productions targeting a 16-34 year-old audience. Fiscal 2017 saw the Comedy Central Group deliver its highest share ever, which saw the main Comedy Central channel’s share up +10% and Comedy Central Extra up +3%

 

This phenomenal growth is fuelled by new UK Commissions Your Face or Mine, Roast Battle (which has proved to be the highest UK commission ever for the channel), Russell Howard and Mum: USA Road Trip, Drunk History and The Chris Ramsey show. US titles Impractical Jokers, Bob’s Burgers and The Middle also continue to draw in massive number and popular nostalgic titles such as Friends and 8 Simple Rules are still a ratings hit.

 

In addition to the main Comedy Central channel are Comedy Central +1, Comedy Central Extra and Comedy Central Extra +1 providing audiences with more viewing opportunities and more fantastic content.

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