THE ‘guyliner’ is no more and the hairstyle has gone from Cruella de Vil-esque quiff to a style your mother would approve of.

The new look Russell Kane, who recently got married, is excited about debuting his one man monologue at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from August 18 to 24.

He’s speaking to me from the car whilst travelling on the M25 to Aldershot, where he will be previewing The Closure of Craig Solly.

Writing the monologue is clearly a labour of love for Russell, who has a degree in English and studied writing at Middlesex University.

The 33-year-old said: “I wanted to push myself and created a very dark, black comedy about a psychotic gangster who wants to invite people into his cell for closure.

“He’s such a dark, nasty person, it’s very intense. It’s fun being scary.”

When he’s gigging around the UK, Russell likes to poke fun at different regions through his humour. But there will be a little research to do before he’s able to do the same for Weymouth, he said.

“I’ve never been to Weymouth before in my life!

“But I’m going to be spending four days on holiday there. I’m staying in a tiny cottage near Dorchester so I’ll be getting a bit of a feel for the area before the gig.”

Russell has previously performed at the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, the Larmer Tree Festival in North Dorset and Camp Bestival at Lulworth Castle.

And the sky is the limit for Russell who, between gigs and TV appearances, still found time to write his novel The Humorist.

After he tells me he’d like to do a movie, I make the mistake of suggesting he might want a career like his comedy namesake Russell Brand.

Russell said: “Russell Brand did Get Him to the Greek as himself and he was in Arthur.

“That’s the end of Russell Brand’s career. I’d like to think I’m more of a character actor, the sort of character who’s very different. I would like to be a protean type of person who changes.

“I would like to do the type of thing that Eddie Izzard does, those sort of complete changes.”

And there are more scathing words for Russell Brand, who declared on Newsnight that he has never voted, never will, and that the UK political system has created a disenfranchised, disillusioned underclass.

Russell Kane says the statement has done nothing to help the cause for saving BBC3, where many fledgling comedians have started out. The channel is due to be axed next year following a public consultation.

He said: “The reason they’ve done it is because Russell Brand was telling everyone not to vote.

“You’ve then got a load of 16 -25-year-olds sitting round thinking there’s no point in them having a voice.

“And then you’ve got the people least likely to hit back and they’re the 16 - 25 year olds.”

And with me getting Russell all fired up whilst battling along the M25 on a scorching hot day ahead of his Aldershot show, I’m able to ask him something that hopefully has a more calming effect.

The personal life is going swimmingly, he tells me.

“I got married in May to Lindsey and we’re very happy. We had a wonderful honeymoon and it’s great being married. We’re loving it.”

Sunday Night Comedy with Russell Kane, hosted by Tom Glover, is on Sunday from 7.30pm at Weymouth Pavilion.RUSSELL Kane