Russell Howard has revealed that he’s quit television after 19 years.
The British comedian, 44, is best known for his show Russell Howard’s Good News, as well as regular appearances on comedy panel show Mock the Week.
Howard said he plans instead to focus on his live stand-up shows and two podcasts, Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things and the sports-focused GoalLess.
“I don’t do TV anymore, I just do stand-up and my podcast,” he told the Have a Word podcast.
“I had a pretty good run, I just prefer doing stand-up. I was all over the world and it was just fun.”
The comedian, who last appeared on TV in August last year on Channel 4’s Big Fat Quiz of Telly, is set to tour internationally this year with shows across the US and Europe.
Howard added that “there’s nothing else I’d rather do” than touring and putting together shows.
“TV is fun but it’s not as fun,” he explained. “Writing a book I couldn’t do because I don’t want to sit and entertain myself but doing stand-up is what I love doing.”
He added that he appreciated the autonomy he gets from doing stand-up.
“It’s not entertainment for committee, it’s your dictatorship,” he continued. “The audience are like this brilliant jury that let you know through laughter whether it works or not.”
Russell Howard’s Good News ran for 10 series with 96 episodes between the years 2009 and 2015. In 2017, Howard launched the Russell Howard Hour on Sky One as part of a two-year deal. He wrote and starred in the 14-part weekly comedy series.
In 2020, Howard made headlines when he walked off stage during a live show after being interrupted by an audience member filming him.
He was around five minutes into his set when he noticed a woman in the front row pointing her phone at him.
He told her that filming him was “literally the worst thing you can do” and suggested she try to “live in the moment”, before mimicking her by pointing his own camera in her direction and walking off stage.
Speaking after the event, the comedian said he “probably did the right thing” with his response.
