What The International Press have said about Russell Howard Live, so far:
“completely irresistible…one of the most effective political stand-ups around, for the way he can keep any crowd on board, being didactic without being divisive… God, the man can put on a show. Howard is a brilliantly talented live performer”
Tristram Fane Saunders, The Daily Telegraph ★★★★
“Hilarious and Humble…established a solid international fan base thanks to years of touring and his work spreading like wildfire on the internet…wildly successful and acclaimed”
Simon Thompson, Forbes (USA)
“his flow is punchy and unstoppable”
The New Zealand Herald
“a humor phenomenon made in the UK, which social networks have spread around the world. Without barriers or borders, his stand-up shows have already won fans from geographies as diverse as the USA, China or Denmark. Language is not an obstacle to getting a good laugh”
Ana Pina, The Portuguese Jornal Económico
“Top British comedian…understands that despite language, culture and current political divisions, we are all just humans trying to muddle through. And, at our core, we have a shared humanity.”
Dana Gee, The Vancouver Sun
“you’ll not find a slicker, more personable performer the length and breadth of the land”
Mark Wareham, The Mail On Sunday ★★★★
“An international sell-out…hilarious antics”
Jessica Klein, The Chronicle (Australia)
December 16 – Russell Howard, ‘one of the world’s top comedians’ (Sunday Times), is set to premiere his brand-new stand-up special, Russell Howard Live at the London Palladium, as an exclusive global stream on January 15, 2025. As we reel from one global crisis to the next, the 60-minute special taped during Russell’s fourth and biggest international tour, sees him put the world to rights in his own uniquely hilarious way. Available on the industry-leading Driift platform, the special features a bumper programme, Off The Cuff, with content only accessible via the stream. Plus, for the first time, Russell will talk live directly with fans around the world throughout the night of the launch. Details on how to submit questions for Russell in advance, along with further information and ticket details can be found at https://www.russell-howard.co.uk/special
Russell Howard Live at the London Palladium will premiere globally at 8pm GMT, followed by two time-delayed re-broadcasts and will then be available On Demand for a limited period. Watch at the following times:
- Worldwide Premiere: 8pm GMT – Wednesday 15 January
- Rebroadcast #1: 8pm CST – Wednesday 15 January
- Rebroadcast #2: 8pm AEDT– Thursday 16 January
- On Demand: from 11am GMT on Thursday 16 January (for a limited time only)
Tickets are on sale now here and grant access to the Premiere, Rebroadcasts, and also the whole On Demand period.
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Spanning 237 gigs across 141 cities in 30 countries, Russell Howard Live has seen Russell sell over 335,000 tickets to date and perform sold-out runs in the UK (with 13 performances at the iconic London Palladium including the special tapings), the USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. In the New Year, Russell will tour the Nordics, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore, before returning to Europe and the US for additional dates. Find tour dates and tickets here.
Russell Howard said: “I hope you love this show as much as I loved making it. Touring the globe and recording the special at the London Palladium was an absolute dream come true and I can’t wait to catch up with everyone on launch night, no matter where in the world you are”
After the global success of writing and starring in 182 episodes of The Russell Howard Hour (Sky) and Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC), as well as six stand-up specials, Russell’s clips have garnered over 1 billion views on social media, and he has sold 2 million tickets worldwide.
Launching in to the Top 10 Comedy Podcasts, Russell’s Five Brilliant Things podcast has seen him chat to guests including John Oliver, Jameela Jamil, Shaun Keaveny, Roisin Conaty, Munya Chawawa, Jimmy Carr, Jack Whitehall, Greg Davies and Guz Khan, about items from their lives that makes it worth getting up in the morning for. Clips from episodes have amassed over 80 million views on social media, with several going viral such as Jimmy Carr describing his dream cocktail (17 million views), Greg Davies on his missing Paella dish (7.9 million views) and Fatiha El-Ghorri diving into language (3.1 million views). Bonus episodes based entirely on listener suggestions are available only through media and community platform Patreon.
After appearing as a guest on the SmartLess podcast, hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Russell and Chris Wittyngham were invited to co-host GoalLess, an all-new original podcast that delves into the passion, personalities, and pitch drama that make soccer beautiful, with guests including John Oliver, Jamie Carragher, and Will Arnett. The podcast is produced by SmartLess Media, a joint venture between Bateman, Hayes, and Arnett, alongside Meadowlark Media and SiriusXM.
Russell’s previous world tours include a record-breaking 10-night run at the Royal Albert Hall, surpassing the eight consecutive shows held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow, as well as performing the largest stand-up show ever in China.
The special is written and performed by Russell Howard and produced by Avalon. The special is directed by Peter Orton, produced by Dan Atkinson, and executive produced by Richard Allen-Turner, James Taylor, and Jon Thoday.
Russell has over 9 million followers on social media.
Other things the Press Said About Russell Howard Live:-
“A gag-packed show that is outspoken and clear-sighted… it’s when he challenges liberal orthodoxy that he’s most interesting…a phenomenally accomplished comedian…act-outs are committed and tremendous… Superb stuff.” ★★★★
Jay Richardson, The List
“a comedy fixture…as the standing ovation at the end suggests, it’s a crowd-pleasing, highly professional, at its best delightful oddness…hugely talented”
Dominic Maxwell, The Times
“comedy A-lister…With smart, satisfying and well-rationed callbacks, Howard builds his giddy anecdotes into a tsunami of feelgood humour, drenching the sizeable crowd in positivity. No wonder they were moved to rise to their feet.” ★★★★½
Steve Bennett, Chortle
“It’s not as if Howard doesn’t see the awful side of humanity. He can joke about that, too. But he wants to burst that bubble and show people something brighter”
The Boston Globe (US)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Russell Howard:
- On the 27th November 2024, Russell’s hugely popular Wonderboxpodcast – featuring an incredible lineup of guests and over 80 million views on social media – relaunched as Five Brilliant Things, in partnership with Adelicious and Patreon.
- On the 15th September 2024, after appearing as a guest on the SmartLess podcast, hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, Russell and Chris Wittyngham were invited to co-host GoalLess, an all-new original podcast that delves into the passion, personalities, and pitch drama that make soccer beautiful, with guests including John Oliver, Jamie Carragher, and Will Arnett. The podcast is produced by SmartLess Media, a joint venture between Bateman, Hayes, and Arnett, alongside Meadowlark Media and SiriusXM.
- In October 2023, Russell Howard’s Wonderbox podcast launched in to the Top 10 Comedy Podcasts and has seen him chat to guests including John Oliver, Stephen Merchant, Jameela Jamil, Jimmy Carr, Shaun Keaveny, Roisin Conaty, Munya Chawawa, Jack Whitehall, Greg Davies and Guz Khan about personal mementos they’d keep to remind them about important moments in their lives. Clips from the weekly episodes have amassed over 80 million views on social media.
- Russell wrapped filming the sixth series of ratings and critical hit The Russell Howard Hour in December 2022. The show immediately became one of Sky’s most successful entertainment series when it launched and went on to see huge success online with over 500 million views on social media.
- Selling over 300, 000 tickets, Russell’s third world tour, Respite saw him play a UK arena run, plus a second national leg including 5 Hammersmith Apollo dates, culminating with taping his second Netflix special Lubricant which is streaming now.
- The two-part Netflix instalment features his stand-up special striving to make sense of a world that is spinning out of control, Lubricant and documentary mapping his attempts to keep performing throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, Until The Wheels Come Off. With this release, Russell became the first comedian to debut a special alongside a documentary on Netflix and the sole comedian to have two of the top ten most-streamed specials across all platforms in the UK.
- Russell became the first stand-up comedian from the Northern Hemisphere to perform in New Zealand and Australia after the global lockdown in 2021.
- Whilst on tour in New Zealand and Australia, Russell filmed a new 3 x 60 min travelogue, Russell Howard Stands Up To The World, airing in the UK on Sky in New Zealand on TVNZ in 2021.
- During lockdown in 2020, Russell was 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.
- 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 adult’s 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.
- 10 series of Russell Howard’s Good News saw Russell write and star in 96 episodes.
- Russell Howard’s Good News was regularly the most watched show on iPlayer across all BBC Channels.
- 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 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 made 58 appearances on Mock The Week between 2006 and 2010.
- 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.
About DRIIFT
Driift is an industry leading livestream and e-commerce platform, and produce, promotes and hosts one-of-a-kind events and live experiences. Selling more than 1 million tickets in over 190 countries, Driift is connecting artists with global audiences through ticketed events.
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. Avalon, Artists Rights Group and The Agency together represent a diverse and distinctive roster of artists including actors, comedians, writers and directors, among them Academy Award, BAFTA, Emmy, Tony and Olivier Award-winners.
Avalon is the UK’s largest true independent television production company, with over 40 shows in production in the last year including: hit entertainment format Taskmaster (Channel 4 in the UK, Network 10 in Australia, TV4 in Sweden, TVNorge/Discovery+ in Norway); Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); Starstruck (HBO Max/BBC); Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Breeders (FX/Sky); and Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly (Channel 5). Avalon has produced over 4,000 episodes of hit programming for audiences in the UK, US and around the world, winning over 30 Emmy Awards and BAFTAs from 100+ nominations.
Other landmark Avalon shows include Catastrophe (Amazon/Channel 4), Flatbush Misdemeanors (Showtime), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), TV Burp (ITV), and the cult classic workplace sitcom Workaholics (Comedy Central). Avalon has also produced over 60 comedy specials for various platforms including Amazon, HBO, Netflix and Sky, as well as numerous podcasts and radio shows, including the UK’s second most popular podcast, Shagged. Married. Annoyed. with Chris & Rosie Ramsey. Avalon’s dedicated distribution arm licenses its catalogue of programmes and formats to over 200 territories worldwide.
Avalon also produces and promotes live comedy around the world and has promoted more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company. Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show, Jerry Springer: The Opera, winner of four Olivier Awards, and is currently producing Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical in the West End, winner of two Olivier Awards including Best New Musical in 2024, as well as Taskmaster: The Live Experience, a new London visitor attraction based on the TV show.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent
