In the early days, he carried a notebook everywhere, to consistently hone his set. “I was teased a lot. They’d go, ‘Got your notes, have you kid? What are you revising for?’ ” Howard loved the battle-hardened “road dogs” he’d compère and open for, and they took to him.
Where he fitted in less was in the “rock ’n’ roll” scene of trendy Noughties comedians, who looked more like they should be fronting bands (Russell Brand and Noel Fielding led the charge) than clowning about.
“There was a thing coined early on – me and my generation were ‘The Milkshake Brigade’, because we’d do Edinburgh and then go to an all-night cafe called Favorit and have milkshakes, while the rock ’n’ roll comics would go to a pub called The Penny Black, drink until the early hours, and perform the next day. They’d all be in skinny jeans and look like the Kings of Leon, while we just had milk around our chops.”
He laughs. He has never performed drunk or hungover, and never would. “I can’t think of anything worse, I’d just get all sad and angry. You’ve got 20,000 people listening to what you say, and everyone’s laughing, and you’re creating this moment, so to have your senses blurred in the middle of that would be crazy. I’d rather make notes than get wasted.”
A sensible man. And besides, if all the Noughties comics were lined up now, I say, it’s probably only “The Milkshake Brigade” who are still going strong, all these years later.
Howard gives this some consideration, flipping through a mental Rolodex. “Yeah, probably, thinking about it, you’re right.”
Russell Howard will be recording Wonderbox live at the Fringe on August 1, 2, and 4 as well as testing new material for his Work in Progress show at the Assembly George Square Studios from July 31 to August 4. Info: Russell-Howard.co.uk