Russell Brand
Lincoln Theatre 1215 U St. NW, District of Columbia 20009
Russell Brand’s Recovery Live
Building on the momentum generated by the genre-defining Brene Brown’s Call to Courage and Tony Robbins’ I Am Not Your Guru comes Russell Brand’s Recovery Live.
World renowned stand-up comedian, Russell Brand, has twenty years’ experience as a live stage performer and multiple successful specials already to his name, including the 2018 Netflix original, Re:Birth. In Recovery Live, he brings to life his inspired, irreverent and modernized interpretation of the 12-step program. Russell boldly shares his own story, both lurid and redemptive, in a special performance that is equal parts stand-up and modern tent revival.
Russell addresses all forms of addiction – both the obvious and the insidious. Booze, heroin, Instagram, poker, co-dependency, chocolate cake, porn… and myriad other habitual ensnarements. Russell has put 15 years into the 12-step program, and now he has thoroughly modernized the system, to make us see that we are all a bit fucked. The genius of his program is that it is relevant to everyone – not just those that see themselves as addicts. His incisive and hilarious insights illustrate how we address our unhappiness and anxiety through insatiable material desires, that most all of us are on a perpetual treadmill of restlessness and disconnection because we are addicted to behaviors that do not serve us.
Profane & profound. Irrepressible bad boy & empathic healer. Occasionally disturbing & always fascinating. The conundrum is that Russell Brand is highly addictive.
What Inspired The Program?
The Program is an interpretation of the 12-step program. Since its inception 80 years ago, this system for recovery has transformed millions of people’s lives worldwide. Whether it’s an addiction to substances like drugs, alcohol or sugar or compulsive sex, gambling, work, shopping, or social media, this system can bring about positive change for anyone who is willing to work through the steps.
The original 12-step program is a masterful fusion of spirituality and psychoanalysis; however, the language is archaic and rooted in the Christian tradition of its founders and can be off-putting and anachronistic to many people.
In this show, Russell shares his own modern, funny, profound, and completely non-denominational interpretation of the original 12 Steps, first introduced to the world in his 2017 New York Times best-selling book, Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions.
The first three steps of Russell’s interpretation:
1. Are you a bit fucked?
2. Could you not be fucked?
3. Are you, on your own, going to unfuck yourself?
Working the steps provides practical tools for tackling anxiety and depression and bring balance to personal relationships. Put simply, Recovery is about recovering the person you were born to be.
The Live Show
Brene Brown is the world leader in her field and Tony Robbins is a god of personal development; Russell Brand is neither. Russell is as fucked as the rest of us!
This is not a show where someone who knows more than you, tells you how to live your life. This is a show where someone who is more flawed than you, shares the techniques that have helped them to change their life for the better.
In this uplifting 90-minute one-man show, Russell introduces audiences to The Steps. He utilises practical examples of the techniques in action – all illuminated by frank and hilarious personal anecdotes drawn from his own experience. Russell also responds to audience questions, drawing on his improvisational skill and depth of knowledge to help others with the challenges they are facing. Ever the raconteur, Russell also shares affectionate and absurd stories of his strange and beautiful encounters with luminaries such as the Dalai Lama, Oprah, Wim Hof and Eckhart Tolle.
This a hybrid entertainment show, a show with serious intent that is presented with a lightness of touch and Russell’s distinctive flair for the ridiculous, the obscene, and the profound. Some audience members will bring a notebook and pen, others will come purely to laugh, all will leave seeing their lives differently.
Recovery Live is a funny, heartfelt and engaging exploration of a life philosophy that could change individuals and the world.
