Andy McSmith's Sketch: Russell Brand's interview with Ed Miliband went so well he might even vote

There was a running joke on social media at Russell Brand’s expense, which went like this: you take a portentous Russell Brand quotation, and after it you cry: “Parklife!” In the one-minute trailer for the interview that Brand did with Ed Miliband, you hear him ask: “For me, what I have learnt is that because of geopolitical influences, because of global finance, it seems that it’s very difficult at a domestic level to leverage serious influence.”

But the Labour leader does not cry: “Parklife!” He exclaims: “It’s not true!”

They are side by side in the comedian’s upper-floor kitchen, which is all tiles and brick walls – no paint or wallpaper – but large and comfortable, with a vase of daffodils next to the hob.

Brand’s appealing quality as an interviewer is that he listens. He pushes his face close to Miliband’s, seemingly intrigued by what he is hearing. When Ed Miliband remarks that to get a multinational firm such as Amazon to pay its fair share of tax you first need a government with the will to tackle avoidance, Brand cries excitedly: “You are that government?”

“Yeah!” Miliband replies.

It all went so well that Brand might even be persuaded to vote.