If Russell Brand really cared about his cause he wouldn’t have gone on Question Time

He should have known that anyone who is genuinely anti-establishment will always come a bit undone

Russell Brand on Question Time (BBC)

I first discovered Russell Brand in 2006, when he had just started hosting his first radio show on BBC 6Music. He was witty, hilarious, and completely unprofessional, and from then on he had me hooked. I trawled through the internet for everything I could find with him in it, including the television series he did while still addicted to heroin, RE:Brand. Each episode involved him doing slightly off-kilter things, such as boxing his semi-estranged father, sharing a bath with a homeless man called James, bringing a guy to climax in a pub toilet, and hanging out with the leader of the youth BNP in Leeds (which led to him almost getting beaten up by his shiny-headed pals).

Which is to say, I have a lot of time for Brand. To my knowledge he's talked about his desire for revolution since 2006, maybe even earlier. Every time he was challenged over it by his radio co-host and friend Matt Morgan, he would always say he was waiting to become famous enough. In the end, it took 17 acting credits in TV shows and films, several hosting slots, three books and six stand-up tours to reach a level he was happy with. Now his career is based around trying to make things better for society's underdogs. He might say stupid things, and talk in quite a jarring way, but how can anyone fault him for what he's actually fighting for?

So as you might expect, I was excited to see him go head to head with Nigel Farage on Question Time last night. But in the end, it was just uncomfortable. He might have landed a few good punches ("pound land Enoch Powell" comes to mind) , but he also might have done his campaign more harm than good.

From the very first question, you could tell. While Farage is canny enough to sell himself as an anti-politician, and an “ordinary bloke”, Brand is genuinely anti-politics. First of all, he’s not a politician, which helps. He also grew up in poverty, was brought up by a single mother, and struggled as an addict throughout his twenties. But most importantly, he’s genuinely against the political system and the way it works, and will never subscribe to the idea that you can get anything by asking nicely.

The Question Time format favours sleek operators and populist establishment figures, and Brand is neither. Compare Farage’s much-touted “straight talk” about changing British immigration policy with what Brand has said about his campaigning: “I want real change. I don’t want change within this tiny little aperture, within this tiny squinting anus of democracy, I want to f**k that thing wide open, till it’s gaping and shove a revolution down it”. So when someone asked what the panel thought about adversarial politics - opening up a classic Question Time debate - what was Brand supposed to say? That he’d like to f**k adversarial politics until it’s gaping?

Then there was the moment with the man who shouted at him to stand for office if he cared so much. “My problem would be mate I’d stand for Parliament but I’d be scared I’d become one of them.” he replied. Suddenly, his spontaneous wit seemed to be escaping him. It was sad to see. Another awkward moment came when there was a question about grammar schools, which he admitted he didn’t know much about. But he decided to reply by launching an attack on Ukip, and ended up not answering the question at all. Does this sound familiar? If he was really scared of becoming politician-like, this moment should have terrified him.

After all this work, Brand has a chance to use his fame to genuinely help others, and I hope he succeeds. But it’s raw, grassroots activism where he’ll do this. No-one will ever change the world by appearing on Question Time, but they might well become undone by it.