"Funniest Comedian RUSSELL KANE vs GABE KAPLAN"

Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau 15 October 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, winning the main prize in August 2010. Kane was born to David and Julie Grineau in Enfield, North London and brought up in Essex, where he still lives. He studied English at Middlesex University and graduated with a degree in Media Writing. In 2004, Kane won the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year, and in 2005 he came second in So You Think You're Funny. He joined Ray Peacock, Russell Howard and Reginald D Hunter on the national Paramount Edinburgh and Beyond tour in October 2005. In November 2005, he filmed his World Comedy Tour in Australia. He also presented the live music event Guerrilla Gig, which aired on BBC Three in March 2006. He has appeared on various comedy panel shows, and filmed four other live stand-up performances. In July 2006, he wrote and presented travelogues for the newly-launched Five US. In August 2006, he performed his debut comedy show The Theory of Pretension at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he was nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award. In 2006–07 he appeared in Fakespeare Shortcuts on the UK's Paramount Comedy Channel, which also featured his longtime girlfriend Sadie Hasler. He presented Big Brother's Big Mouth on E4 and Channel 4 in June 2007. He again toured with the Edinburgh and Beyond tour in autumn/winter 2007.

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Gabriel Weston Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, and professional poker player. He played the eponymous teacher in the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. He later became a professional poker player and a commentator for the series High Stakes Poker on GSN. As a kid, Kaplan had aspirations of being a Major League Baseball player. However, he was unable to make the roster of a minor league team and decided to pursue other interests. He began working as a bellman at a hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey. Touring comedians sometimes performed at the hotel, and Kaplan began to work toward his own career as a stand-up comedian. Gabe honed his standup routine in 1964 in places such as the Cafe Tel Aviv at 250 West 72nd Street, New York City. Kaplan's comedy was successful, and he toured the country with his act based on his childhood experiences in Brooklyn. He appeared five times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from May 1973 to December 1974. During that time, he also recorded the comedy album Holes and Mello-Rolls, which included long routines about his high school days and other topics. The sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, whose central characters he helped Eric Cohen and Alan Sacks create and whose core format he helped them to develop, was in part based on his comedy act. In the sitcom, Kaplan played Gabe Kotter, who returns as a teacher to the dysfunctional high school where he had been a student. The series ran from 1975–1979, and Kaplan bought a home in Palm Springs, California with his earnings. "Up your nose with a rubber hose!", sanitized from the original album line "Up your hole with a Mello-Roll!", became an unlikely catchphrase from the show. It became so popular that a comedy record by Kaplan, Up Your Nose, was released by Elektra Records. The record, co-written and -produced by Kaplan, dented the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1977, peaking at #93.

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