Not only am I partial to a concert or two, but I love going to see comedy shows. I have seen Russell Howard every time he has come to Cardiff, and this year was no exception. Before performing to the Cardiff crowd, Russell has been busy kicking off his world tour in Dublin and London.
Can't quite believe it but I now hold the record for the longest consecutive run at the @RoyalAlbertHall… sorry Sinatra! pic.twitter.com/1VDK0SiAxJ
— Russell Howard (@russellhoward) March 9, 2017
After ten consecutive nights at the Royal Albert Hall, it was Wales‘ turn, and I was lucky enough to get tickets for his opening night at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. I bought the tickets back in December last year and had (what I thought) was a side view of the stage. Not bad seats but after a while, you do get a bit of a sore neck from looking at the stage from a funny angle. When I turned up to the arena, I was so pleased to see that the layout had changed. The stage was in the middle of the arena which meant I was looking straight on. No sore neck for me!
https://twitter.com/eleanor_c88/status/841374807593762816
Was it any good?
Absolutely. Russell’s main focus was to remember how important laughter is in times of sadness and to realise how lucky we are, living in the moment. This reminded me so much of when I went to see Billy Connolly a few months ago. That zest for life makes you realise how lucky you really are.
Russell couldn’t help but share his passionate political views, which were spot on and of course hilarious. He had strong opinions on both Nigel Farage and Donald Trump.
His attempt at the Welsh accent had me in stitches every time, but he did say how sometimes he “starts off Welsh but then somehow slips into an Indian accent,” much to the hilarity of the Cardiff crowd.
If you saw his show ‘Russell Howard And Mum: US Road Trip’, there were some parts of the show where he spoke about this along with his close relationship with his father, brother and sister. Their close relationships have provided him with some great stories to tell. As he spoke about the time he found out about his grandfather’s death, you could see how emotional he was. It’s funny how such a sad moment like that could still get a laugh from the crowd, but I won’t spoil the story for you.
The circular stage gave everyone in the arena the chance to see his very energetic comedy routine, including his “arms waving around,” as his grandparents had described seeing whilst watching his show ‘Good News’ with the volume turned down (“because of the swearing”).
His routine is full of hilarious scenarios that he acts out perfectly, facial expressions and all! The somewhat reminiscent stories of what it was like to grow up in the 90s compared to the social media pressures kids have to face now. These stories were the foundation of a letter that his 11-year-old cousin had prior to going on a school trip to London Zoo, and how he was warned on how to deal with a terrorist attack should it happen. This then segued into yet another hilarious scenario on how an 11-year old would “negotiate” with ISIS with a chocolate bar.
This was the first of 3 nights Russell is at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff before he heads off to Birmingham’s Gentin Arena on March 17th. If you haven’t got your tickets already for his tour, head over to Russell’s website here!
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