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Gay, humans. Welcome to the safe space for dangerous ideas. Russell Brand.

One of the funniest, most unpredictable, most unexpected, fast-thinking guests I've ever spoken with.

This is, you could really divide Josh Zep's short, exciting life into before the interview that you're about to hear and after the interview that you're about to hear.

The year was 2013. The television

show that I was doing in New York City was going gangbusters. The bookers were booking the

biggest stars on the planet. And Russell Brand was on a promotional tour. What I didn't know at the time,

this was for his world tour of a new one-man show

called The Messiah Complex,

what I didn't know was that he'd just come off,

I think it was the same day,

the set of the popular morning show,

Morning Joe, on MSNBC,

where he had completely annihilated and

intimidated and devastated Mika Brzeinski, the host.

Joe Scarborough, the co-host was off that day.

And it was Mika, Caddy Kay, and Brian Shackman.

And Russell Brand showed up with wearing his necklaces and baubles, his

open-neck shirt, his chest hair protruding, his gigantic cowboy boots.

Mika Brzeinski had no idea who he was, did a reasonably condescending introduction,

saying as much, and he sat there, pensively, contemplatively,

...