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Russell Howard
RUSSELL Howard is a hot property on the comedy circuit, with TV and radio shows under his belt, along with stand-up gigs selling out across the UK.
But the BBC Mock the Week regular is not expecting an easy ride when he brings his Dingledodies act to Llandudno's Venue Cymru next Thursday.
"It's kind of weird because every other date on the tour is pretty much sold out apart from that one, which we've sold no tickets for!" he jokes. "It could be a bit of a brutal night.
"Venue Cymru is so big, it's going to be hilarious if there is just three people stood there going ‘Go on then'
"'Well, shall we just not go to your house and do it?' ‘No, do it here.' Should be all right!"
In fact, sales are brisk so the 28-year-old will be facing an almost full house with his boyish happy-go-lucky anecdotes.
He first found fame as a teenager - with his fifth ever gig he reached the final of C4's So You Think You're Funny.
"When I was 19 I was such an idiot, just trying to make people laugh all the time," said Russell. "Like you need an audience. When you start doing stand-up that kind of goes away and you become a lot more reflective off stage."
And he's been working almost non-stop since, with a BBC radio Sunday show with Jon Richardson - now on hold - along with TV, including Never Mind The Buzzcocks. on BBC2, Would I Lie To You? and Live At The Apollo on BBC1. For those not able to get to his stage show, November 17 sees the release of a Russell Howard Live DVD, something he's excited about.
"I watched it and you know when you listen to your own voice and you're like ‘That's not my voice.' I'm sure other people will find it enjoyable!"
The Bristol-born comedian never seems to run out of material despite his heavy work load. In fact he believes all his projects benefit each other.
"Mock the Week is head in the papers for 12 weeks, absorbing news, knowing everything," he said.
"Stand-up is about coming up with an idea and developing it and turning it into a routinethat you can perform for 60 days without getting bored." So it's different disciplines. They kind of both help each other really so it's quite nice."
Russell is aware his ever growing fanbase has certain expectations of him. He said: "What's odd is when people come up to me in the supermarket and go ‘Hello. What are you buying?' ‘Cereal,' ‘That's not very funny".
You sort of feel like you're disappointing them."
Russell’s current tour, Dingledodies, at Venue Cymru on Thursday 2nd October please contact the venue’s Box Office on 01492 872000 or visit www.venuecymru.co.uk. Tickets are priced £15.
