Russell Kane explains why he has a ‘phobia of being successful in America’

Virgin Radio

28 Jun 2024, 08:19

Russell Kane has spoken about the reasons why, despite being one of the UK’s most popular comedians, he hasn’t tried to break America.

The comedian joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar for a chat ahead of continuing his HyperActive UK tour later this year. When Chris said: “The world would, I imagine, be your oyster. The USA, do they know about Russell Kane?”, the stand-up replied: “That's the only place I haven't played.”

He explained: “A, It's very expensive to get going over there. You're looking at the five figures to even get the licences you need to enter the country. And B, I'm not interested at the moment in living in America.”

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The comedy star elaborated: “This is going to sound like such a humblebrag, but if you've asked me the question, so I'll give you the honest answer. I've got a phobia of being successful in America and having to move there, because you would just get drawn in.

“Whereas the other countries that I play: Canada, Australia, I've just done Bermuda, I've just played Singapore this year, I played Dubai, Oman, I had all these gigs this year, the comedy comes first, and the film and telly comes second. Whereas in America, it's the other way around.”

Whilst America isn’t on the cards, lots of UK venues are, with Russell’s upcoming dates running from September to December, with the tour having kicked off back in February.

And in the immediate future, before rocking up at Glastonbury to be part of the Infinite Monkey Cage podcast with Professor Brian Cox and fellow comedian Robin Ince this weekend, Russell has got a couple of corporate gigs lined up.

“The corporate gig is a more difficult version of the Royal Variety Show,” he told Chris. “The audience are expecting people to do stuff on stage, but they are not your audience. They are not there for you. They could be there for Harry Styles or Dua Lipa, or whoever's on at the end. 

“In fact, that is what happened to me when I did the Royal Variety. Harry Styles poked his head out and did a cheeky wave at the audience. They were like ‘He’s about to come on!’ They went, ‘Now Russell Kane’ and I had to go on to a blank curtain and do it. And a corporate is an even more difficult version of that, because you're getting in the way of their dinner, their award ceremony.”

Despite this, Russell admitted to “loving them” and explained: “It's like putting weights in the boxing gloves. It's like loading the bar up. Every show is a challenge to be solved. So if we were to set this show up right now with two speakers in Euston Station, it would be tragic for about 10 minutes. Then our creative juices would get a crowd around us. We'd be like, ‘How can we solve this environment?’ That's why I love them. Yes, they're well remunerated, but I love the challenge. 

“If I can go and smash that, the next time I go on stage, it's like I've loaded an extra 40 kilos on the bar at my regular gigs.”

Read why Russell won’t be appearing on Strictly anytime soon, despite the fact that he “adores” dancing here.

Russell appears on the Spooning podcast with Mark Wogan this week! Keep an eye on viginradio.co.uk to read all about it.

For tickets to Hyperactive visit russellkane.co.uk.

Russell will also be at CarFest on the Starfest Stage this year.

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with webuyanycar weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.