By Rachel Zarrell, News Staff
Like many people who have never attended college, Homecoming comedian Russell Brand’s idea of what it’s like is mostly influenced by what he’s seen on TV.
“Animal House,” “The Social Network” and “Girls Gone Wild,” the actor said, when asked what college brings to mind.
The News spoke with the British transplant, who has starred in movies such as “Get Him to the Greek” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Now on a college stand-up tour, Brand hopes to get a taste of the university life he missed out on.
“I want it to be like ‘Good Will Hunting,’” he said.
The funnyman said as far as being at college goes, he has “no idea what to expect.”
“I’d like to come to the campus and have a typical student day,” he said. “I’d like to have a long scarf, a lunchbox. I don’t know what to do. Do you take drugs, like educational drugs?”
To understand college culture, Brand has a lot of learning to do. As Greek life doesn’t exist in England, he said sororities and fraternities to him are like “something going on on Mars.” And upon finding out what a keg stand is – being held upside down and chugging beer from a keg – Brand, a recovering alcoholic, exclaimed, “Bloody hell, that’s really, really dangerous. It sounds like it could bring about fatalities.”
Brand discussed what it’s like to be a celebrity, and the pestering tabloids and gossip that comes with it. In the past week, despite pregnancy rumors swirling about his pop star wife, Katy Perry, he said he wasn’t even aware of them.
“You become kind of indifferent to it,” he said. “It becomes meaningless, because you realize it’s not really true.”
As for the show, when Brand takes the stage at Matthews Arena, he implied that students might want to keep an eye on their belongings.
“I like to do spontaneous chaotic things that we work out with the audience,” he said. “I like to get right into the audience and touch them and take their stuff, involve them in adventures and then tell them about things that have gone wrong for me. You know, embarrassing and awful incidents that have happened.”
And digging through students’ bags isn’t the only thing on Brand’s mind. In a YouTube video posted Nov. 15 for Northeastern University, the comedian had some choice words for our president.
“If your name is Dr. Joseph Aoun, you’re in a lot of trouble,” he said, questioning the validity of Aoun’s title (and pronouncing the name better than most of the student body can). “Has anyone actually seen his credentials? I haven’t. I want him to be at the gig and I want him to carry out a full prostate examination on me to be thoroughly sure that he is a genuine doctor.”
And don’t think him being an alien without a college degree makes him out of the loop on Northeastern’s everyday events.
“I’ve been doing some research,” he told The News.
In the video, Brand addressed former Student Government Association President Ryan Fox, the 2011 graduate behind Husky Link and subject of a Nov. 10 story by The News.
“Ryan Fox needs to be brought to justice because he has stolen the Husky Link Twitter,” Brand said in the video. “What exactly is Husky Link?”
Balcony tickets for the show tomorrow at Matthews Arena are still available on myNEU. Prices are $10 for Northeastern undergraduate students and $17 for graduate, CPS and law students, faculty and staff, and guests. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 8 p.m.
