This was the second part of the Russell Howard special called Lubricant where he talks about how Covid and 2020 really affected him, his career, and his life as a whole.

In 2020 Russell Howard was meant to be doing world tours with his new comedy show and this was meant to mark 20 years since he began his career in comedy, however with the pandemic and everything that came along with that, this got halted and this really affected his mental health as it did many of us. With Russell this was his livelihood, this was what brought money in, and not being able to perform meant that he was unable to keep up the lifestyle that he had, had for the last two decades.

We follow him in a documentary style as he battles with Covid, with his own demons of not being able to perform, and with everything else that came with the pandemic. His wife as well being a doctor was really interesting to hear about because he saw a different side to the pandemic that many of us didn’t see as we weren’t that close to the front line, and this really made everything come crashing down into how serious this whole situation was.

I think it’s interesting to see a man who is known for being funny being so sincere and serious. You really got to know Russell on a different level because he was able to talk openly about his feelings, his mental health and how he dealt with everything, but it was also nice to see that having this break from comedy gave him a new lease of life with his comedy and made him realise that he was passionate about it and that it was something that he didn’t want to give up just yet.

I think that is something we can all take away, yes the past few years have been incredibly hard, our lives have been turned upside down and we haven’t been able to do what we have always been able to do because of the restrictions and because of worry and stress, but that doesn’t mean that we have to let it break us. It doesn’t mean we have to take it and think ‘this is a bad time, I will wait for it to get better’, we can make the most of it while we are stuck in it, and then we can think about the better times once things are back to normal and what we want to do then. I think 2020 and 2021 have really given us time to reflect and realise what is most important in our lives and what isn’t, and I feel a lot of people will be taking steps to make their lives and themselves better once this pandemic is over because life is too short and why shouldn’t we live it how we want to?

This isn’t a comedy special. Lubricant was the special and this is the aftermath of everything that happened with that show, and I think it’s fascinating. Personally for me I wasn’t going to watch it. I thought: do I really care? But actually watching it I realised that it helped me feel more connected to other people, it helped me realise that I wasn’t the only one who thought the things that I did, and it just gave me even more motivation to go after what I want in my life once everything is back to normal. It may not be your cup of tea but I feel if you enjoy Russell Howard or you enjoy peeking behind the curtain of the celebrities then it may be right up your street.

What do you think of Russell Howard?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding