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MORE than four months after the infamous Andrew Sachs incident, Russell Brand is to return to the stand-up comedy spotlight with a date in Wales.

The big-haired star, who found himself admonished from all sides in October after he and chat show host Jonathan Ross made obscene prank phone calls to former Fawlty Towers star Sachs, will play the Cardiff International Arena on April 14.

The gig, which is guaranteed to sell out, has just been added to the dates of Brand’s first comedy tour – entitled Scandalous.

It is his first performance in Wales since the media storm which led to him quitting his late night Radio Two show under a cloud, with Ross suspended from the airwaves without pay and senior figures at the BBC stepping down from their jobs.

Not that any of that seems to have affected Brand who, after resigning his DJ position, continues to sell out any live appearances he performs, both here and in the US, where he has recently finished filming a starring role in the hot Adam Sandler comedy Bedtime Stories, as well as bagging a plum role opposite Johnny Depp in the fourth installment of the swashbuckling Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise.

In addition, sales of his autobiography My Booky Wook have gone on to sell more than 600,000 copies, as partner-in-crime Jonathan Ross’ book, Why Do I Say These Things? failed to take off.

It eventually scooped a prestigious “Nibby” at the British Book Awards, leading to Brand signing a multi-million-dollar, two-book publishing deal with giants Harper Collins.

The comedian Lee Hurst pleaded guilty today to smashing an audience member's mobile phone at one of his stand-up gigs because he believed it was being used to film his performance.

Hurst, the former star of TV quiz They Think It's All Over, lambasted "thieves" he accused of filming his and other comedians' performances.

The stand-up comic abused the audience member and grabbed his handset, worth £80, before returning to the stage and smashing it on the floor during his performance at the Stoke pub in Guildford, Surrey, on 3 September last year, Guildford magistrates' court heard.

Hurst believed the audience member – who claimed to be sending a text message – was filming him, the court was told. Hurst dismissed the texting claim, arguing that the man's mobile phone had been following him across the stage. He said: "I moved to the right and the light followed me. I moved back to the centre and the light followed me again."

The 46-year-old told the court he was furious because footage of his gigs end up on websites such as YouTube. He accused other writers of recording his material to copy his jokes and sell them to television shows on channels including the BBC and ITV.

Hurst told the court: "If people film you, they don't have permission to do so. A lot of this stuff ends up on YouTube. TV programmes have writers writing for the performers and they go around to gigs and take the material and sell it to the BBC and ITV and that material is gone. You are then accused of stealing your own material. It has happened to me with material shown on national TV that I had already done.

"There are thieves amongst the circuit, sadly, and amongst the writing community. Nobody will protect us, we have to protect ourselves."

Hurst said although there were rules against using phones during gigs, performers could do little but "suffer it" when unauthorized filming occurred.

Hurst was fined £60 and ordered to pay compensation of £80 and £87 costs after admitting a charge of criminal damage.

The chairman of the bench, Jon Curtis, said: "Although we have some sympathy with the situation you found yourself in, it is clearly not an excuse to cause damage."

Speaking outside the court, Hurst called for stand-up comedians to be protected by the same copyright laws as cinema. Asked if he regretted what he did, he said: "I don't regret what I did because the police wouldn't turn up to defend me, would they? It was in anger, but it is like having your tools stolen if your material is taken."


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