Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has four times been nominated at the

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...

, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for stand-up comedy, for television, he has presented '' Big Brother's Big Mouth'' (2007), ''I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here - Now'' (2009-2011), '' Freak Like Me'' (2010), '' Geordie Shore: The Reunion'' and '' Britain Unzipped'' (2012), '' Live at the Electric'' (2013), '' Stupid Man, Smart Phone'' (2016), and hosted the BBC Radio 4 series ''Evil Genius'' in 2018 as well as a television show by the same name on Sky History in 2023.

Early life

Kane was born to David and Julie Grineau in Enfield, North London and brought up in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, where he still lives. He studied English at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

and graduated with a degree in Media Writing.

Career

Kane's father had worked as an extra, and he himself took on a couple of youthful acting roles in the early 90s, under the name Russell Grineaux. Turning to comedy, in 2004, Kane won the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year, and in the same year he was runner-up to Nick Sun in '' So You Think You're Funny''. In 2005, he joined Ray Peacock, Russell Howard and

Reginald D. Hunter Reginald Darnell Hunter (born March 26, 1969) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian based in the United Kingdom. Early life Reginald Darnell Hunter was born on March 26, 1969, in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, the youngest of nine.Ma ...

on the national

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

''Edinburgh and Beyond'' tour. He was a roving reporter alongside Annie Mac, for the live music event ''Guerrilla Gig'', which aired on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

in March 2006. In July 2006, he wrote and presented travelogues for the newly launched Five US. In August 2006, Kane performed his debut comedy show ''The Theory of Pretension'' at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he was nominated for a ''best newcomer'' Edinburgh Comedy Award. He presented '' Big Brother's Big Mouth'' on E4 and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in June 2007. In 2008, Kane was the host of BBC Radio 2's ''Out to Lunch'' from series 4 onwards. He presented a Sunday afternoon show on the relaunched Q Radio digital radio station. Later the same year, he took his stand-up show ''Gaping Flaws'' to Glasgow and the Edinburgh Festival, earning 2008 Best Comedy Show Nominee at the

. He also wrote an hour-long play, ''The Lamentable Tragedie of Yates's Wine Lodge'' based on his own creation of Fakespeare. On 20 November 2008, Kane performed at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

for the BBC's '' Live at the Apollo''. In 2009, Kane returned to Edinburgh with a stand-up show entitled ''Human Dressage'', which was nominated for 2009 Best Comedy Show Edinburgh Comedy Award for the second time. Kane appeared on the presenting team of the 2009 ITV2 spin-off show ''I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here – Now'', which he co-hosted with Laura Whitmore and

Joe Swash Joseph Adam Swash (born ) is a British actor and television presenter from London, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of '' I'm ...

. Two contestants that year were Gino D'Acampo and Katie Price. He returned to Australia for the show in 2010 and 2011. In April 2010, while appearing on the Australian TV show '' Good News Week'', Kane made a joke centred on

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

children, prompting an apology from the network and criticism from the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities. Later that year, Kane appeared live in Cardiff, along with his impressionist and comedienne wife Sadie Hasler, who preceded his act. Kane was narrator and presenter '' Freak Like Me'' on

during the winter of 2010. In August 2011, he appeared for the first time on the

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at B ...

comedy panel game ''

Just a Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

'', which he won. In November 2011, he won a ''

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

'' edition of '' Celebrity Mastermind'', with the specialist subject "The Life and Novels of

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

". On 5 July 2011 and 27 March 2012, he presented '' Geordie Shore: The Reunion'' for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. His debut novel, ''The Humorist'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in April 2012. In 2012, he co-presented '' Britain Unzipped'' with Greg James on

, which was renamed ''Unzipped'' for series 2. He was the presenter of the BBC Three show '' Live at the Electric'', which ran for three series, and co-hosted the 2013 chat show ''Staying In'' with Greg James. In 2016, Kane presented the

travel series '' Stupid Man, Smart Phone''. In January 2018, Kane participated in ''

And They're Off! ''And They're Off!'' (also known as ''And They're Off!... for Sport Relief'') is a British television programme hosted by Ore Oduba with commentary from Dave Lamb and demonstrations from Daryll Neita and is shown on BBC One, featuring contestants ...

'' in aid of ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

''. In March 2018, Kane started hosting the BBC Radio 4 series ''Evil Genius''. This programme is an exploration of famous people in contemporary history.

Awards

* 2004 Laughing Horse New Act of the Year * 2004 So You Think You're Funny: 2nd Place * 2006

: Best Newcomer nominee * 2008 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show nominee * 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show nominee * 2010 Edinburgh Comedy Awards: Best Comedy Show * 2011 Barry Award

Personal life

Kane married fellow comedian Sadie Hasler in 2010. They met while studying at

. They divorced nine months later. He married hair and makeup artist and model, Lindsey Cole in 2014. They had met when Cole had attended one of his shows and later connected through social media. They have one daughter. Kane mentions he is often mistaken for

Nick Grimshaw Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), nicknamed "Grimmy", is an English broadcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a television presenter for his Channel 4 rol ...

. In 2015 it was revealed that Kane had been lying about his age, claiming to be five years younger than his actual age. Kane has been an ambassador for

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

, a charity.

Bibliography

*''The Humorist'', 2012 (novel) *''Son of a Silverback'', 2019 (memoir)

Stand-up DVDs

*''Smokescreens & Castles Live'' (7 November 2011) *''Live'' (30 November 2015)

References

External links

Official website

Kane's ''Chortle'' page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, Russell 1975 births Living people English comedy writers English male comedians People from Southend-on-Sea People from Enfield, London Alumni of Middlesex University 21st-century English comedians Comedians from the London Borough of Enfield Comedians from Essex