Comedians are not only performers but also artists and being good at an art is always a talent, Russell Hicks in particular is a very talented comedian with years of experience. But the question is how did Russel live without preforming through 2 years of lockdowns.
Russell is a 38 year old comic from San Diego, California who left the United States to pursue his career by moving to the England.
He has now been in the United Kingdom for 7 years and has been a stand up comedian for 11 years headlining at places such as The Top Secret Comedy Club at Covent Gardens and Up The Creek Comedy Club in Greenwich.
Dealing with a global pandemic was difficult for various people due to their occupations, but some could argue that it would have been impossible for a comedian to proceed with their day to day life, let alone their job, Russell gave us some insight on how he found his time through the COVID-19 pandemic as a comedian.
He began by telling me ‘I didn’t find it as difficult as some comedians and even some people. As a comedian with financial stability and a name for myself it felt more like a time off than anything with the chance to take time away the trade’, however Russell did not get a complete two years off.
With zoom sky rocketing over lockdown Russell became part of stand up zoom call comedy where he said ‘I became very good at them while also finding them entertaining which really helped me stay on his feet with stand up’.
Russell went on to say ‘now there is an entire online medium of comedy which has definitely expanded through lockdown and potentially got bigger than we could have ever imagined’.
Russell himself started a Tik Tok social media account where he posted his stand up gigs from the past and other skits right at the begging of lockdown, by the end of it he had come out with an incredible 100,000 followers with the account @russellhickscomedy.
He went on to explain how ‘Tok Tok, YouTube, Facebook and all social media platforms have their own type of comedy which even experienced comedians can learn from and you can’t understand these skills until you experience it first hand, however it does make up and coming comedians life a bit more challenging. Almost like Blockbuster movie store in an age with Netflix’.
But lockdown done more for Russell than just give him a platform on social media, it gave him a chance to work on his career. Russell described himself as ‘a go getter, someone who wakes up and tries to improve on my abilities and talent, especially as a comedian that is hard on myself, the pandemic gave me the chance to grow not only as a person but has a comedian’.
Although, Russell did not always feel this confident in his craft, although Russell has told us that ‘he was born to be a comedian’, he also said ‘when I was young I had a few shows not go to plan with people I wanted to show my talent to coming to watch, I beat myself up about it all night thinking is this for me’.
He followed up from that with’ But you can’t do that, you can’t think you’re not good enough because you are’ and with this mentality it lead Russell to a great life in the comedy industry.
Russell spoke on his idol saying ‘Dave Chappell is a huge idol of mine, the man ran the comedy industry for years. The man inspired me to do great things’,
Moving to the United Kingdom from the United States can be challenge for anyone, but it is even harder for a person who is coming over to pursue their career.
But in spite of all that someone like Russell has managed to succeed in doing this, claiming that ‘British crowds are unique and interactive, they are like magic audiences and it suits me well’.
The American born comedian does go back to the states now and again to preform. After asking him what the difference between the United States and the United Kingdom was he told us ‘I implement my skills that I have learn in the UK into my shows back home’
The return to work situation after a nation wide lockdown was always going to be a challenge, Russell dealt with it much better than most did with his return to comedy coming at the Top Secret Comedy Club in Covent garden and claiming ‘I never lost a step. the online shows really helped’.
After a tough tow years I believe it is safe to say a comedian of Russell Hicks’s stature came out doing better than great. Getting back to comedy alone is a gift that someone of Russell’s ability can never be ungrateful for and will never take for granted.