Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for stand-up comedy, for television, he has presented ''

Big Brother's Big Mouth This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sho ...

'' (2007), ''I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - Now'' (2009-2011), '' Freak Like Me'' (2010), '' Geordie Shore: The Reunion'' and '' Britain Unzipped'' (2012), ''

Live at the Electric ''Live at the Electric'' is a British comedy series that aired on BBC Three from 31 May 2012 and 28 February 2014 and is hosted by Russell Kane who performed stand-up in between comedy sketches from a variety of performers such as Joe Wilkinso ...

'' (2013), '' Stupid Man, Smart Phone'' (2016), and hosted the BBC Radio 4 series ''Evil Genius'' in 2018.

Early life

Kane was born to David and Julie Grineau in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

and brought up in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, where he still lives. He studied English at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries ...

and graduated with a degree in Media Writing.

Career

In 2004, Kane won the

Laughing Horse New Act of the Year Laughing Horse is a British comedy promotion company and venue operator. The company was established in the UK in 1998, and now operates venues in Aldershot, Brighton, Cirencester, Hitchin, London ( Brixton, Covent Garden, Lancaster Gate, Pad ...

, and in the same year he was runner-up to

Nick Sun Nick Sun is an Australian stand-up comedian. He is of Nepalese extraction, but chooses to eschew obvious cultural stereotyping in his act, favouring a style that has been described as "unhinged", " offensive" "nihilistic" and "self-destructive." ...

in ''

So You Think You're Funny So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom. The finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Past wi ...

''. In 2005, he joined

Ray Peacock Richard Ian Boldsworth (27 June 1973, in Warrington, England), previously known under the pseudonym Ray Peacock, is a comic performer, best known for ''The ParaPod'', ''The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and the Ray Peacock Podcast. He came to p ...

Russell Howard Russell Joseph Howard (born 23 March 1980) is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter, and actor. He was known for his television show ''Russell Howard's Good News'' and is currently doing ''The Russell Howard Hour'', and his ...

and Reginald D. Hunter on the national

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

''Edinburgh and Beyond'' tour. He was a roving reporter alongside

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

, for the live music event ''Guerrilla Gig'', which aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

in March 2006. In July 2006, he wrote and presented travelogues for the newly launched

Five US 5USA is a British free-to-air television channel. It is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia and is a sister channel of Channel 5 (UK), Channel 5, 5Action, 5Star and 5Select. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the secon ...

. In August 2006, Kane performed his debut comedy show ''The Theory of Pretension'' at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, where he was nominated for a ''best newcomer''

Edinburgh Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

. He presented ''

'' on E4 and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in June 2007. In 2008, Kane was the host of

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

's ''Out to Lunch'' from series 4 onwards. He presented a Sunday afternoon show on the relaunched

Q Radio Q Radio was an online, DAB and DTV radio station, broadcasting on digital television across the UK and online. The station launched in June 2008 as an alternative to the UK's rock and alternative stations, with a strong relationship with Q ...

digital radio station. Later the same year, he took his stand-up show ''Gaping Flaws'' to Glasgow and the Edinburgh Festival, earning 2008 Best Comedy Show Nominee at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He also wrote an hour-long play, ''The Lamentable Tragedie of Yates's Wine Lodge'' based on his own creation of Fakespeare. On 20 November 2008, Kane performed at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

for the BBC's '' Live at the Apollo''. In 2009, kane returned to Edinburgh with a stand-up show entitled ''Human Dressage'', which was nominated for 2009 Best Comedy Show

for the second time. Kane appeared on the presenting team of the 2009 ITV2 spin-off show ''I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - Now'', which he co-hosted with

Laura Whitmore Laura Whitmore (born 4 May 1985) is an Irish media personality and model based in London. She was a video jockey for MTV in 2008, and has since presented television shows, such as ''This Morning'' (2014), '' Survival of the Fittest'' (2018) ...

and

Joe Swash Joseph Adam Swash is an English actor and television presenter, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me O ...

. Two contestants that year were

Gino D'Acampo Gennaro Sheffield D'Acampo (born Gennaro D'Acampo; 17 July 1976) is an Italian celebrity chef and media personality based in the United Kingdom, best known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks. D'Acampo rose to fame as a regular ...

and

Katie Price Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her Glamour photography, glamour modelling work and had regular appearances on Pag ...

. He returned to Australia for the show in 2010 and 2011. In April 2010, while appearing on the Australian TV show ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in ...

'', Kane made a joke centred on

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

children, prompting an apology from the network and criticism from the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities. Later that year, Kane appeared live in Cardiff, along with his impressionist and comedienne wife Sadie Hasler, who preceeded his act. Kane was narrator and presenter '' Freak Like Me'' on

during the winter of 2010. In August 2011, he appeared for the first time on the

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

comedy panel game '' Just a Minute'', which he won. In November 2011, he won a '' Children in Need'' edition of ''

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December a ...

'', with the specialist subject "The Life and Novels of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

". On 5 July 2011 and 27 March 2012, he presented '' Geordie Shore: The Reunion'' for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. His debut novel, ''The Humorist'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

in April 2012. In 2012, he co-presented '' Britain Unzipped'' with

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...

, which was renamed ''Unzipped'' for series 2. He was the presenter of the BBC Three show ''

'', which ran for three series, and co-hosted the 2013 chat show ''Staying In'' with

. In 2016, Kane presented the

travel series '' Stupid Man, Smart Phone''. In January 2018, Kane participated in '' And They're Off!'' in aid of ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educati ...

''. In March 2018, Kane started hosting the BBC Radio 4 series ''Evil Genius''. This programme is an exploration of famous people in contemporary history.

Awards

* 2004

: 2nd Place * 2006 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer nominee * 2008 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show nominee * 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show nominee * 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show * 2011 Barry Award

Personal life

Kane married fellow comedian Sadie Hasler in 2010. They met while studying at

. They divorced nine months later. He married hair and makeup artist Lindsey Cole in 2014. They had met when Cole had attended one of his shows and later connected through social media. They have one daughter. In 2015 it was revealed that Kane had been lying about his age, claiming to be five years younger than his true vintage.

Bibliography

*''The Humorist'', 2012 (novel) *''Son of a Silverback'', 2019 (memoir)

Stand-up DVDs

*''Smokescreens & Castles Live'' (7 November 2011) *''Live'' (30 November 2015)

References

External links

Official website

Kane's ''Chortle'' page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Russell 1975 births Living people English comedy writers English male comedians People from Southend-on-Sea People from Enfield, London Alumni of Middlesex University 21st-century English comedians