Comedian Russell Howard has decided to step away from television. The 44 year old said: "I don't do TV anymore, I just do stand-up and my podcast." Fans will remember the star from his BBC series Good News, which aired from 2009 to 2015 for ten series, and The Russell Howard Hour on Sky, which started in 2017 and included six series plus a spin-off filmed from his home during the pandemic.
He was also a familiar face on Mock The Week with Dara Ó Briain before the show's cancellation. But now, Russell is turning his full attention to his two podcasts: Five Brilliant Things and the football-themed GoalLess. His last TV appearance graced our screens in August on Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz of Telly.
Opening up on the Have A Word podcast, Russell revealed his passion for stand-up over TV. He said: "I was all over the world and it was just fun. TV is fun but it's not as fun [as stand-up].
"Writing a book I couldn't do because I don't want to sit and entertain myself but doing stand-up is what I love doing. It's not entertainment for committee, it's your dictatorship. The audience are like this brilliant jury that let you know through laughter whether it works or not," reports the Mirror.
Russell has also had a Netflix special and documentary, offering a glimpse into his personal life, including the touching story of how he shared his bed for a year with his epileptic brother, Daniel, after a severe fit left him afraid of dying in his sleep.
In 2021, Russell and his brother told the terrifying story of the freak accident that led to Daniel's epilepsy. The comedian remembered how his brother would sleep in his bed every night, placing his leg against his as a precautionary measure in case he started to have a seizure.
He recalled: "When I was 18, my brother had a really bad epileptic fit. We found him on the floor. He was blue. We were terrified. We thought he was gonna die. We got into the hospital and he was OK. Two days later, he came back full of bravado.
"But later that night he knocked on the door and said 'is it alright if I sleep with you? It's boring going to bed, innit?' He put his leg on me. OK, fine. He's had a tough couple of days. I can live with that..." "This went on for a year, this leg on me. It was only recently that I said to Daniel, 'What was that about?'
"And he said, 'Y'know, I was afraid to go to sleep in case I woke up dead. Didn't want to burden you with that. So I just slept with my leg there. I thought if I started shaking you would wake up and I would be all right'."
The brothers also spoke about the accident when Daniel fell off his bike at age 10, which caused his epilepsy, and the seizure four years later that made them fear he was dying.
Bristol-born Russell added: "Daniel has epilepsy and what's awful about it is that I know when it happened because we were riding our bikes down a hill, and a battery fell out of my light on the back of my bike and sort of flicked up.
"And I looked around and Daniel went over the battery, smacked his head and was kind of on the floor. This was before the days of helmets and all that kind of stuff."
Russell shared that for about a year, Daniel suffered from headaches and then started having fits, which peaked when he was 14 and the family feared the worst. Russell recalled: "He's upstairs with [sister] Kerry and she was calling me, and my brother was like, you know, he started fitting. Dad was crying. It was the only time I have seen him cry, it was absolutely horrific."
Thankfully, Daniel survived and even managed to lighten the mood when he regained consciousness by breaking wind, causing the rest of the Howard family to burst into laughter.
