…timing.  Ironic considering the poorly timed nature of this post.  I will be having a little look back at the controversy that surrounded Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross last year and then reviewing a comedy performance that took place on Sunday 7th December.

In case you missed the fiasco you can read the BBC’s summary of events; Russell Brand Prank Calls ( it would have been hard to miss; after the earthquake in Pakistan it was still front page news and and even when police shot dead a man in London the main story on BBC News’ England page was still Brand and Ross).

To summarise, Russel Brand called Andrew Sachs (aka Fawlty Towers‘ Manuel) after the actor failed to appear on the Brand’s Radio 2 show.  Brand got the answering machine and Jonathan Ross, who was a guest on the show, alleged that Russell slept with Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie (this turned out to be true).  the duo then made a series of further calls as they attempted to apologise to the actor is a humorous way.

The pre-recorded show was then approved at every editorial level and edits requested by Sachs were made to the recording.  The show was then broadcast to the nation and received two complaints (only one of which referred directly to the answer machine material).

Unfortunately, the one objector was obviously a Daily Mail reader and wasn’t long before the infamous tabloid was calling for the public execution of Jonathan Ross and for Russell Brand to be flogged in the streets of London (okay I made that part up but I wouldn’t put it past them).

The way the media spun this story was impressive.   In one of the messages Ross says “If he’s [Sachs'] like most people of a certain age, he’s probably got a picture of his grandchildren when they’re young right by the phone. So while he’s listening to the messages, he’s looking at a picture of her about nine on a swing.” and based on what you read in the papers you could easily imagine Georgina as a rosy faced cherub with flowers in her hair and a lace outfit styled by Little Bo Peep.  By the end of some articles you found yourself muttering “What nasty, nasty men, how dare they question the chastity of a lady?  Hanging’s too good for them.”

So let’s take a look at Georgina.  Some people would say you shouldn’t judge a person based on their appearance.  I would say “But she’s created a top for herself using a pixelated image of Frankenstein’s monster and a bike chain.  She’s then used black electrical tape to cover her nipples.”

Note how I’m linking to a family friendlyish image here and not stills from her lesbian porn movie, footage of her Channel X career or anything to do with her burlesque troupe Satanic Sluts Extreme.

The worst that Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand did here was call a ho a ho.

I’m going to wrap this up with, for me, the most confusing part of this whole sorry saga.  Since 1991 Jonathan Ross has hosted the British Comedy Awards.  In 2008 he resigned from his position as host saying that it would “take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners of the awards.”

Ross’ replacement was Angus Deayton.  A man who was fired from the BBC five years earlier for snorting cocaine with hookers instead of spending time with his then pregnant girlfriend.

Comedians should be judged on their jokes alone and, if we have to pretend we have some kind of morality, we should at least try and be consistent.

One comedian who isn’t afraid of controversial topics, and as far as I know hasn’t been fired for sleeping with hookers yet, is Jason Canham.

I was meant to go and see him perform on Sunday 7th December but, as anyone who’s been reading my blog and taking notes will know, that day I only just managed to escape exhausted from Birmingham with a bad cold.

Jason Canham takes to the stage of the Leek Road Venue

Thankfully I was able to catch up with the six minute slot on his blog Student Giggles.  The first time I saw Jason perform was at the GKmedia Awards, this time he returned to the stage with more than a day’s preparation and some more mainstream material.

It’s hard to judge his performance based solely on YouTube videos.  I can’t properly gauge audience responses, I can’t see the comedian’s facial expressions and I don’t even know what acts preceded him.

Nonetheless, I’ve always been impressed by Jason’s acid tongued responses that seem to come from nowhere and these were apparent in his act.  His set covered national, international and student issues.  There were jokes about Barack Obama and child abuse but then there were also gags about Hollyoaks and a brilliant student game called Pull the Pig.

Jason’s nervous pacing, especially when he walked off camera, and the lack of links between the jokes were the only niggles I could find and with more preparation and practice he can only get better.  Hopefully next time he’s performing I’ll be well enough to see him in person.