Not Brand's finest hour

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Busy times for Russell Brand. A best-selling autobiography to plug, meeting the Queen and Richard and Judy. It was no surprise that he was inconsistent in Croydon on Friday. Not even a banner demanding "Pull down your trousers and pants" could fire him up. Which was a shame, because Brand was intermittently brilliant at mixing erudition and sleaze. Few stand-ups can say "I was having it off with two fat prostitutes in Reading" and turn a sordid event into a picaresque anecdote. He may not be a great role model, but he can certainly tell a great story.

Things started well. After an electrifying account of a confrontation with a cabbie that ended in Brand camply attempting to out-macho his opponent, he resorted to mining the local paper for satire. Sadly, the Croydon Advertiser was not the comedy goldmine he hoped for.

He had better luck inviting a fan onstage and amplifying his ribald phone conversation with her mum. But momentum dropped when he closed with an extended Q&A session. Not Brand's finest hour.

Roundhouse, 13-15 December (0870 389 1846, www.roundhouse.org.uk).

Russell Brand
Croydon Fairfield Halls
Park Lane, CR9 1DG