Russell Brand

George Mason University welcomes comedic genius Russell Brand to the Patriot Center stage on Thursday.

Brand, who began his career as a stand-up comedian, first gained fame in his native UK in 2003. Three years later he embarked on Shame, his first nationwide tour and then a year later came Russell Brand: Only Joking - his second major tour. Both of these stand-up shows were released on DVD as Russell Brand: Live and Russell Brand: Doin' Life, respectively.

The U.S. got their first taste of Brand as Aldous Snow in the hit movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 - then again as Snow in Get Him to the Greek in 2010. This role led him to host the MTV Video Music Awards in both 2008 and 2009 as well as star in Hop, Arthur and Despicable Me. Currently he is filming the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages with Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin.

Brand has also earned his place on the bookshelf. He has written a New York Times best-seller, My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs and Stand-Up and the follow-up Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal.

Now Brand returns to his roots with a stand-up performance at George Mason University's Patriot Center.

--Patriot Center website