Russell Brand

The cutting edge guy that I am, I've been aware of Russell Brand for a couple of years now.  I first heard him on his BBC 6Music show.  Shortly thereafter he moved to the most popular BBC station, Radio 2.  You can listen to his Saturday night show a number of different ways, be it live, on demand or by podcast (without the music). 
His loose occupation title is comedian, though he  is much more than that.  Aside form his radio program he has hosted television shows and acted in movies (in the UK), and has even written an auto-biography, My Booky Wook . The book is being well received as it details his life of heroin abuse and sexual addiction with honesty and humor. 
Now America is discovering this manic talent.  Think a hipper, more crazed Robin Williams.  His first American movie is Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  And he's again, getting nice reviews. 
In the last few weeks he's done stand up shows in LA and appeared on The Tonight Show of which you can see parts of below. 
Look for this guy to make a big splash in the US in the next couple of years.  In the meantime, check out some of the many other clips of him on YouTube, and listen to his radio show. Then you can say you heard it first here.