RUSSELL HOWARD ANNOUNCES RESCHEDULED UK DATES INCLUDING 5 SHOWS AT LONDON’S EVENTIM APOLLO AND 7 SHOWS AT HOMETOWN VENUE BRISTOL HIPPODROME, PLUS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND LEGS

250,000 TICKETS ALREADY SOLD FOR WORLD TOUR, RESPITE

“Howard is a megastar” ★★★★ The Times
★★★★ Evening Standard ★★★★ Metro ★★★★ The I ★★★★ Chortle ★★★★The Arts Desk

28th May 2020 – Following a sold-out and critically acclaimed UK arena run, Russell Howard announces rescheduled dates returning to Britain including 5 shows at London’s Eventim Apollo and 7 shows at hometown venue Bristol Hippodrome, alongside legs in Australia and New Zealand to take place in 2021 for his third and biggest world tour, Respite, due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The news arrives following rescheduled dates in Europe and North America announced earlier this month for the tour which will, in total, take Russell to 69 cities across 24 countries in 5 continents.

Russell will begin his tour of New Zealand and Australia on the 22nd January 2021 in Wellington, followed by cities including Auckland, Christchurch, Brisbane (3 shows), Sydney (2 shows), Melbourne (2 shows), Adelaide (2 shows) and Perth (2 shows) through to the 14th February. Russell will start his tour of the UK on the 25th February in Cheltenham (4 shows), followed by Peterborough (4 shows), Leicester (2 shows), London (5 shows), Plymouth (3 shows), Portsmouth, Reading, Brighton (2 shows), Lincoln (3 shows), Isle Of Man (2 shows), Exeter (2 shows), Aberystwyth (2 shows), Northampton (2 shows), SouthendEdinburgh and Bristol (7 shows), culminating with Oxford (5 shows) on the 18th July.

Tickets for the rescheduled dates are on general sale now. Full dates available at: russell-howard.co.uk

Russell was recently on our screens twice a week presenting a new Sky One show, Russell Howard’s Home Time, from his childhood bedroom for which he donated his fee to NHS Charities Together and The Trussell Trust.  The series saw Russell give his unique perspective on current world events, as he chatted to some famous faces and interesting people in lockdown including Marc Maron, Jack WhitehallLouis TherouxKatherine Ryan, Greg Davies, Michelle WolfJohn Richardson, Guz Khan, James Bay and Stephen Merchant. Every episode is available to watch via Russell Howard’s YouTube Channel which has over one million subscribers.

Russell’s 2017 sell-out international tour, Round the World, saw him break the record for the biggest English speaking stand-up show in China and play a record-breaking 10 night run at the Royal Albert Hall, overtaking 8 in a row jointly held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow. The tour culminated with the global release of Netflix Special Recalibrate.

Russell has over 6 million followers on social media.

-ends

For more information please contact: Victoria Wedderburn on 07557160139 or VWedderburn@avalonuk.com

 

What The Press Have Said About Respite so far:

“Howard is a megastar” ★★★★ Allan Radcliffe, The Times

“Howard’s presence and manner are honed art forms, and his pacing is close to perfection. His set is tightly-packed, relentless, accelerating and energetic. But every word is crystal clear. This tightrope between rushing and dragging is rarely so well walked.”

★★★★ Alex Bruce, Chortle

“In Respite he takes stock of the current chaos and concludes that we need more fun…. Howard says laughter brings people together. It certainly did last night.”

★★★★ Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

“Hero’s return for the uplifting comedy king…Howard is undeniably one of the biggest names in comedy”

★★★★ Josh Stephenson, Metro

“Howard masterfully builds a show that is hilarious and convincing in equal manner”

★★★★ Owen Richards, The i

“It’s safe to say this show went down a storm”

★★★★★ Tabitha James, Young Perspective

“Russell Howard is back with a bang”

Shyvonne Thomas, Digital Spy

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Russell Howard:

  • Russell was most recently on our screens twice a week presenting a new Sky One show,Russell Howard’s Home Time, from his childhood bedroom for which he donated his fee to NHS Charities Together and The Trussell Trust.  The series saw Russell give his unique perspective on current world events, as he chatted to some famous faces and interesting people in lockdown including Marc Maron, Jack Whitehall, Louis Theroux, Katherine Ryan, Greg Davies, Michelle Wolf, John Richardson, Guz Khan, James Bay, Stephen Merchant, Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno, and heroes on the front line including Bafta and Emmy award winning film maker Hassan Akkad, intensive care doctor Aoife Abbey and mental health volunteer Caitlin Grant.

 

  • Russell began his third and largest world tour Respite with a sold-out and critically-acclaimed UK arena run in Autumn 2019. In total, the rescheduled tour will take Russell to 69 cities across 24 countries in 5 continents with 250,000 tickets already sold to date.

 

  • Earlier this year Russell was on our screens with the third series of The Russell Howard Hour on Sky One. The show was the most successful new entertainment series to launch on the channel since 2010 and has since received over 400 million views across social media as a result of multiple segments going viral. Filmed in front of a studio audience, Russell conducts in-depth wider social interviews with an array of interesting people after having guests including Ed Sheeran, John Oliver, Alesha Dixon, Chris O’Dowd, Naomi Klein, Jamie Oliver, Louis Theroux, Diane Abbott, Greg Davies, Fiona Bruce, Richard Curtis, Stephen Merchant, Jack Black and Elizabeth Banks to name a few. The fourth, fourteen-part series (14 x 60’) is already commissioned.

 

  • Russell Howard and his mum Ninette were on our screens with the fourth series of Comedy Central’s Russell Howard & Mum: Globetrotters in 2019. The first three series reached 4.2M individuals, with the first series being the highest rated new commission on the channel the year it launched. After achieving as much as +241% on the 16-34s slot average and +172% on the adults slot average, series three and four were commissioned with extended episodes.

 

  • A Netflix special of Russell’s previous critically acclaimed world tour titled Recalibrate launched worldwide in December 2017.

 

  • Russell’s 2017 sell-out international tour, Round the World saw him play a total of 87 dates with runs in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia.  This tour also saw 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 performing the biggest ever stand-up show in China.

 

  • Whilst Russell was touring Round The World in 2017, his previous 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 shared the heart-warming story of Russell and a sick fan’s triumph over adversity.

 

 

  • 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 has over 6 million followers on social media.
  • 10 series of Russell Howard’s Good News has seen Russell write and star in 96 episodes.

 

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

 

  • On the 10th anniversary of the channel, a poll of over 10,000 readers of Digital Spy voted Russell Howard’s Good News as the best ever BBC Three Show, beating shows such as Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey

 

  • Russell’s 2014 Wonderbox tour 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 Howard 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 Howard’s fifth ever stand-up gig got him to the final of Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny.

 

  • In 2006 Russell Howard 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, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.

The company represents a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors and produces numerous ground-breaking television shows. Series currently in production include: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, from creator Josh Thomas (Freeform); Breeders, a new sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show (Netflix); new series of the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK);  and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix. Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi Emmy nominated, Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning TV Burp (ITV), and seven seasons of Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide.

As a leading promoter of live comedy, 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 and promote 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.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent