Recalibrate

Russell Howard wants you to stop doomscrolling, or whatever the 2017 equivalent of doomscrolling was. His approach to a world in political meltdown is a high-energy sprint of aggressively cheerful optimism. Performing on a circular stage, he bounces and mimes his way through a set that functions as a plea to step back from the collective panic of the news cycle and find some joy in the absurdity of daily life.

The centerpiece of the performance is his rewritten version of the British national anthem, transformed into a celebratory tribute to the NHS that skewers Nigel Farage and Donald Trump. Between the larger political target practice, he shifts to more traditional, observational ground, complaining about the performance anxiety of social media and the clumsy, deeply flawed ways men attempt to pick up women. It is a mixture of the crude and the sentimental, anchored by stories of his family, including the death of his grandfather.

The performance was recorded at the Brighton Dome during Brighton Pride weekend and marked Howard’s first global stand-up release for Netflix. Filmed at the tail end of his massive “Round the World” arena tour, it caught the comic at the peak of his UK fame—right as he was transitioning from his long-running BBC series Good News to Sky’s The Russell Howard Hour. While the hyperactive delivery divides viewers who prefer a bit more cynicism, the set captures Howard fully leaned into the relentless positivity that made him a household name in Britain.