14/12/13 - Russell Brand's 'Messiah Complex'

Before I kick off, I need to make a couple of preemptive apologies.  Firstly, the photos in this blog post are worse than abysmal.  This is what happens when you forget your camera (bad blogger) and have to choose between a terrible iPod camera and a worse BlackBerry one.  Forgive me.  Secondly, this review has the potential to get a little overly effusive and downright embarrassing.  Continue at your peril.  Right, on with the show...

Very few people who know me now will understand how excited I was to see Russell Brand's latest tour Messiah Complex.  Other than my family, only a couple of my closest friends and the girl I sat with through most of high school Maths can truly appreciate the jittery excitement I've been feeling intermittently since I booked the tickets a good few months ago.  This is because most people either didn't know me or it has been forgotten in the mists of time.  Back when I was probably around fourteen, I was - well, there's no two ways about it - I was obsessed with Russell Brand.  Like, properly obsessed.  I've always had something of an addictive personality, an inherent inability to just like something without immersing myself in it entirely.  With time, I've managed to quell some of my more obsessive urges or at least make them less obvious to the casual observer.  But back then, I was full-on mental.  Russell was my ultimate heartthrob, role model and style icon (there was a lot of eye-liner, it wasn't pretty).  I read his books, watched his stand-up DVDs and had every podcast of his radio programme on my iPod.  So when my brother and I booked tickets, it felt a little bit like all my teenage dreams coming true.

With a combination of his usual lightening-fast delivery, trademark crude sexual humour and just the right amount of political and philosophical debate, Messiah Complex takes on the cult of celebrity and the godlessness of today's culture with Brand's usual flourish.  The thing that struck me most about the show and I think is possibly the number one explanation for the effect Russell Brand has had on me is his infectious enthusiasm.  Passion, in my opinion, is one of the most attractive qualities a person can have and Brand has it by the bucketload.  From the moment he steps onstage (and off it, straight into the waiting and enthusiastic audience), it's clear that there is no place he'd rather be.  He's a born entertainer.  And as he discusses his heroes - namely Gandhi, Che Guevara, Malcolm X and Jesus - and shares his unique view of the world, he's also a born orator.  His command of the audience, his verbosity and incredible stage presence cannot be faulted no matter what your opinions of this controversial man.

I had an absolutely incredible evening.  If I hadn't look fairly rough after coming straight from work and if I didn't have to get up the next day for a pretty important job interview, there is no doubt that I would have waited at the end as Russell gamely smiled for photos and signed autographs.  Sadly, that's a treat that will have to wait for another day.

At the end of the show, Russell bid the audience to think about their own heroes.  The message was clear; it doesn't matter who they are or what they stand for, as long as it's something that you believe in.  His words were "Choose your heroes or society will choose them for you, and they won't be the right ones".  I think it's something really important to consider, especially due to the toxic culture of celebrity that evades today's world.

On that note, which of your teenage heroes would you love to meet?  Let me know in the comments!