'Russell Brand is so annoying. Especially because he is right.'

Does he retract and repulse you in equal measure, too?

He’s a a self-professed hippie guru, who also rubs shoulders with the Hollywood elite. He’s a foul mouthed comedian, yet is searingly intelligent. Sometimes we laugh with him, and sometimes we fight the urge to slap him in the face.

So what do YOU think of Russell Brand?

Diving back into our national consciousness this week with that interview on Channel Ten’s ‘The Project‘, Russell Brand has once again reminded us of his confusing allure that leaves us scratching our heads and wondering – do we love him, or loathe him? The nefarious womaniser, turned yoga devotee and humanist, has somehow magically managed to straddle the fence between telling the joke and being the joke, urging us to form an opinion on his opinions.

Russ is back on our shores for his ‘Trew World Tour’ that will see him skip around Australia in late October, visiting Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. The concept of the ‘Trew’ tour is described as following:

“After a life of individualism and showing off, Hollywood, ruining broadcasting corporations & elections Russell Brand has decided the only way to change the world is to be part of the crowd. Collectively, as a crowd, a horde, a mob we can change the world. This show is a rabble-rousing stab at creating, through the power of the crowd, a Trew World Order.”

Wait, what? Is this the same Russell Brand we’re talking about? We always imagined him calling us to bed…not to a global revolution.

*slightly deflated*

You can watch Russell’s, erm, colourful interview on The Project below. (Post continues after video)

Only a few years ago we knew Russell as a cheeky Hollywood actor, a womaniser, the star of light-hearted comedies like Get Him To The Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. He was the long-haired larrikin who married Katy Perry on the back of a bloody elephant, and thought nothing of man-jewellery and donning women’s skinny jeans.

And then the image begun to shape shift into a different form. From behind the chintzy La La Land exterior emerged a deeper thinker, a man of worldly opinions, political motivations, and personal struggles. In 2013 we learnt about Russell’s previous struggle with drugs and booze, which was followed by a swarm of paparazzi shots showing Russ en route to yoga, or meeting an Indian guru, or sprouting Youtube videos on mindfulness and meditation.

And so here we are with the Russell of 2015, a man of many paradoxes, and really great hair.

A stand up comedian who isn’t past a foul-mouthed rant on porn, yet a startlingly bright intellectual with a vocabulary that puts most of us to shame.

A millionaire actor who gets snapped shopping for vintage Porches, yet pens books like ‘Revolution’, exploring the distribution of wealth across the western world.

A meditating,vegetarian, yoga devotee with a previous history of extensive drug and alcohol abuse.

A former half of a Hollywood super-couple, yet notorious womaniser who sprouts gems such as, “I like threesomes with two women, not because I’m a cynical sexual predator. Oh no! But because I’m a romantic. I’m looking for “The One.” And I’ll find her more quickly if I audition two at a time.”

Sigh.

The trick to Russell Brand might be to not overthink it. At every corner there’s a reason to love him, and around that corner, a reason to loathe him. Listen to any of his notorious rants on Youtube and you will find your emotions swinging from celebration to disgust to respect to shock in just a matter of minutes. Maybe we are all like Russell, but keep the majority of our personal extremes under wraps, to avoid creating a scene.

Well, a scene is what Russell wants, and we are unwaveringly sure that is what he shall get. As he said in his 2007 memoir, My Booky Wook:

“I want to change the world, and do something valuable and beautiful. I want people to remember me before I’m dead, and then more afterwards.”

I have no doubt, Russ, if you continue barrelling through our world as you have been – that will definitely be the case.

Take a look through some of Russell’s social media posts:

Where do you stand on Brand?

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Russell Brand has a go at Malcolm Turnbull’s wealth with a penis metaphor.

Russell Brand wants grown ups to stop colouring in and actually fix their problems.

The glorious Russell Brand rant that everyone is talking about.