If you’re like me, you’ve been slightly perplexed by Russell Brand’s sudden conversion from popular comedian to revolutionary politico. Although I’ve always found Brand to be a good laugh and understand his popularity, I think a lot of us had the same thought of “fucking give it a rest mate” when he exploded onto YouTube with a well-rehearsed spiel about the failings of democracy, all the while speaking like he’d recently had a thesaurus shoved up his bum by the ghost of Slyvia Plath.
Seemingly I wasn’t the only one that noticed this, and several lines were drawn between Brand’s horrendously verbose turn of phrase and Phil Daniels’ obscure ramblings in Blur’s famous track, ‘Parklife’.
But proving he’s a True Brit and taking the joke fully on the chin, Brand’s come out with his own version of the classic track, in conjunction with Irish nutcase duo The Rubberbandits. Now if you don’t know who they are you fucking should, a musical comedy pairing most famous for their song ‘Horse outside’, which in their own words “Esposes the values of owning a horse over an automobile”, the Limerick team add life to an accurate description of David Cameron as an arsewipe.
To say I’m a fan of this Anglo-Irish pairing would be an understatement, and I’m glad to see the Rubberbandits coming back into the popular eye.
Whilst I think a lot of us were a bit worried that we’d be seeing another popular English figure become a total joke as they tried to get taken seriously, Brand’s video shows he’s still capable of seeing the funny side, and has by no means confused himself with something he’s not. Despite this self-deprecating presentation, Brand still manages to package it with a good dose of the message he wants to give, and he’s given it just enough to make the video watchable, and in no way nauseating or condescending.
Whilst converting oneself from a character of amusement to a serious political presence is a task almost insurmountable, Brand’s ability to not take himself too seriously is commendable, and at a time when a lot of us were asking questions about his future, he’s reassured us he’s still a good couple years from becoming a total twat.
