Russell Howard's Good News

Russell Howard is a new comedic face to me. His show is like a modern day version of the Clive James Show but with much less drollery and, possibly, not quite so interesting guests.

I keep watching even though there's something not quite a hit about this show. Russell picks up well on contemporary culture but the frequent and blatant references to bodily parts and functions can tend to wear after a while.

The humour is boyish-smutty which Russell carries off well given his looks. There is some wit in there but its generally overwhelmed.

The final segment of the show is always a 'feel good' story from the press which, again, can be hit or miss. Given Russell's persona I'll never be sure whether the segment is there to help tone down the previous material.

Worth giving a try if you don't recoil from brash, younger comedians.

Everyone has different opinions of everything but it is clearer differences in comedy. I love Russell Howard's good news and I really enjoy the humor around current events and the crazy news stories they find. This does not mean in any way you will actually like it. This show is more fitting with younger audiences that can handle a little bit of offensive sex jokes, jokes about the royal family of England and other famous people. A certain grade of tolerance is needed.

If you are a teen or in your twenties you might like it. This is not really recommended for older audiences or people who are too mature to enjoy life. This show may make you laugh until you cry or make you send a complaint to BBC and everything in between. See it and decide for yourself. Personally I can't stop watching it.

Really weak-kneed comedy, desperately trying to be edgy. I believe he plays stadiums now, and in this intimate setting he still gives it the full stadium overkill. Compare to the subtle mutterings of Stewart Lee (unfair, I know) and Howard comes off like Cannon and Ball. A couple of titters, then I realised the audience were just going to fall about at anything he said - if he wasn't going to make the effort, why should I?

I used to watch a good bit of this back in the day. It was adequate disposable entertainment. Although some people were negative about how it was more demonstration of great research rather than amazing comedianing with a liberal splatter of stuff appropriated from the internet (lots of repetition), this filling the time between dinner and bedtime on weekday nights with nothing planned.

I don't know if would have watched this if I had had a wider selection of things. It was a pretty casual and quick show so it never felt like much a commitment to watch but the jokes admittedly were hit and miss. Howard as a comedian doesn't really have much of an edge except just laughing along with what he's seeing, making funny (I should say annoying) voices and laughing a long to what we have just fricking seen to punch home what was not that subtle in the first place.

The mystery guest segment just halted the pacing dead in a jarring way and I kept forgetting how much it irritated me. If maybe he had three guesses to who they were and three clues, it could have been consistent with the flow but it was actually kind of painful.

I was not grateful for the political overtones present. I know it's about the news and it's very possible to have a fun political show that is both casual and satirical but it was incongruous in a show that revelled in a more juvenile sense of humor. Juvenile humor is swell, I just want a bit of consistency. Howard is clearly to my mind right in principle (he tends to side with gay people and the poor anyway) but he can be so sanctimonious that it is repugnant. One smug rant about the police that oozes an "All lives Matter" vibe was particularly disturbing.

The "It's not all doom and gloom" segment they like to end each episode with actually was perhaps among the most depressing thing in any comedy show since they had to show us people at their lowest to give a little ray of sunshine. I'd rather they'd put that in the middle and just ended with a fluff piece.

Looking back over this on the internet, this doesn't do it for me much anymore. I'm not sure if I changed or if I just have access to better stuff but even by the standards of goofy comedy (I'm way into Family Guy if that helps) I find this just kind of pitiful now.

Russell looks at stories in the news, with focus on the UK, Europe, and rest of the world.

The comedy is 'spot-on' with well timed skits, jokes, and commentary. Jokes frequently go full-circle and you'll see them well placed multiple times throughout the show.

For US fans this show is akin to The Daily Show or Colbert Report, just without a news desk; and at times is funnier, but the formula is similar: Current news, puns about it, skits, and finally a guest at the end.

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Thank you Russell Howard.