Topic: New Stewart Lee Book [split topic]

[scarecrow]

Nothing really new in SLee's April mail-out, except this:

10)STEWART LEE’S SILVER STEWBILEE..

Wed 18 August  8.00pm   TICKETS £17.50  FESTIVAL THEATRE    Suitable for 16+ ....

To celebrate 23 years on the Edinburgh fringes and to mark the publication  of his new, snappily-entitled book, How I Escaped My Certain  Fate: The Life and Deaths of a Stand-up Comedian, the  acclaimed writer and comedian Stewart Lee intersperses the best of his olf and new material with some very special guests.  Stewart Lee will be signing copies ofHow I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and  Deaths of a Stand-up Comedian(published by Faber and Faber) after the show. ....

it doesn't say when tickets go onsale, and there's nothing on the venue's website, but I might call the Festival Theatre and ask about this tomorrow, would hate to miss out...

[madhair60]

Ooh, wouldn't mind a butcher's at this.  Bring on the date/price.

[vrailaine]

Guess that'll be the week I'll be in Edinburgh for.

How much beforehand should I book a hostel? Presumably even the cheap rooms won't be full of druggies when the festival is on?

Edit-Thanks for the heads up and tell us what they say tomorrow please.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Guess that'll be the week I'll be in Edinburgh for.

How much beforehand should I book a hostel? Presumably even the cheap rooms won't be full of druggies when the festival is on?

Couple of months, maybe?  More likely to be full of amdram society students and commonwealth backpackers than any of the locals, though.

Ooooww!

Festival Theatre again?  Really?  "Are you the Stig?"

[scarecrow]

Edit-Thanks for the heads up and tell us what they say tomorrow please.

They new nothing about it when I asked weeks ago, however tickets can be ordered from the venue's website right now.

Festival Theatre again?  Really?  "Are you the Stig?"

I really enjoyed the last Festival Theatre show- I'm so used to seeing Lee perform before sycophantic audiences that it made a nice change seeing him struggle with interruptions, though didn't the 'Stig' heckle cause him to drop the 'better quality of life' routine? That was a pity, I suppose.


I WONDER WHAT GUESTS WILL BE AT THE UPCOMING THING.

[hummingofevil]

Couple of months, maybe?  More likely to be full of amdram society students and commonwealth backpackers than any of the locals, though.

Ooooww!

Festival Theatre again?  Really?  "Are you the Stig?"

I was right sat next to the woman who shouted that. She really fucked me off. Pissed fucking gobshite.

[Lfbarfe]

Book your hostel now, Vrailaine. You can usually cancel with 24 hours notice, so you wouldn't lose anything by booking now, and might end up saving a fair bit.

[vrailaine]

They new nothing about it when I asked weeks ago, however tickets can be ordered from the venue's website right now.

Stellar stuff, thanks! Just booked it, pretty much guaranteeing that I'll be going to the fringe.

Book your hostel now, Vrailaine. You can usually cancel with 24 hours notice, so you wouldn't lose anything by booking now, and might end up saving a fair bit.

Oh thanks, able to recommend any hostels?

Gonna book a hostel for a few days, get tickets for things on those days then try to sort out some couchsurfing thing for days around that if possible.

[Garam]

High Street Hostel on Blackfriars Street! Work there, posting from the place right now. Stay for a week and it's 60 quid straight. Two seconds off the mile.

[Edible]

To celebrate 23 years on the Edinburgh fringes and to mark the publication  of his new, snappily-entitled book, How I Escaped My Certain  Fate: The Life and Deaths of a Stand-up Comedian, the  acclaimed writer and comedian Stewart Lee intersperses the best of his olf and new material with some very special guests.  Stewart Lee will be signing copies ofHow I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and  Deaths of a Stand-up Comedian(published by Faber and Faber) after the show. ...

Olf? Olf? What the fuck does olf mean? Fuck that! there's no way I'm buying a book going to a gig containing new and "olf" material.

Ahem. Next time I try to take the piss, I promise I'll read the quote more carefully.

[Jemble Fred]

Calm down, it's only a fucking typo. And I love golf anecdotes, me.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I really enjoyed the last Festival Theatre show- I'm so used to seeing Lee perform before sycophantic audiences that it made a nice change seeing him struggle with interruptions, though didn't the 'Stig' heckle cause him to drop the 'better quality of life' routine? That was a pity, I suppose.

I enjoyed the show, but would definitely have prefered a different venue.  The Wednesday night will weed out the drunks a bit, but I was sat immediately behind the 'Yass!  You're a legend' thumbs-up guy who talked to his mate all the way through the second half and I can't say it added much to the proceedings.

Anyway - cheers for the heads up.  I'm sure I'll be in attendance.  VW mini-meet?

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed Wilson Dixon, having not been particularly blown away the previous time I saw him

[Serge]

We're hoping to get him down to Rough Trade to do something around the time of the book launch. He was asked to compere for Record Store Day, but already had a prior commitment, and sent a very gracious email apologising for not being able to do it!

[scarecrow]

I was right sat next to the woman who shouted that. She really fucked me off. Pissed fucking gobshite.

I enjoyed the show, but would definitely have prefered a different venue.  The Wednesday night will weed out the drunks a bit, but I was sat immediately behind the 'Yass!  You're a legend' thumbs-up guy who talked to his mate all the way through the second half and I can't say it added much to the proceedings.

Anyway - cheers for the heads up.  I'm sure I'll be in attendance.  VW mini-meet?

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed Wilson Dixon, having not been particularly blown away the previous time I saw him

I remember both hecklers, though didn't realise they were active throughout the entire set. Was the second guy the one who kept shouting "Frankie who?" Was he really giving Lee the thumbs up? What a ledge. The worst thing about people who ruin events like these is that in the moments during which they're not fucking around, they always attempt to display enthusiasm toward the show. Like when people at gigs stop talking for a few seconds, not intensely, then just resume their conversations or whatever, why must they even pretend to be involved with the concert?

I was sat on an aisle seat toward the very side of the venue, behind a lady who kept swigging from a hip flask and eventually spent the last third of the show curled up on the aisle, in the foetal position. I thought Lee had implemented a no saturday nights gig policy?

CG, was the previous wilson dixon set part of those free Sean Lock package things? I remember someone else on here went to the same one as me. I enjoyed the Lee support slot a lot more, it's actually a pretty good idea for a comic who's good at one-liners to just string them together as songs.

[vrailaine]

Does this thing attract people who don't know Stewart Lee or summat?
How is he with hecklers anyway? I could imagine him being pretty poor with a persistent one.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I was sat on an aisle seat toward the very side of the venue, behind a lady who kept swigging from a hip flask and eventually spent the last third of the show curled up on the aisle, in the foetal position. I thought Lee had implemented a no saturday nights gig policy?

Heh - I saw her as well. 

Despite the talk, I don't think I've seen any evidence of him adopting a weeknights-only approach as of yet.

CG, was the previous wilson dixon set part of those free Sean Lock package things? I remember someone else on here went to the same one as me. I enjoyed the Lee support slot a lot more, it's actually a pretty good idea for a comic who's good at one-liners to just string them together as songs.

Yup - the Radio 2 thing at the Assembly Rooms.  Fairly sure Adam Hills and Justin Moorhouse were on as well.

Anyway, is the 18th August the 'traditional' day off that most fringe veterans alot themselves (and then inevitably end up doing lots of gala shows)?  Might affect the line-up in positive fashion if it is.  Could a reunion with the Herring be on the cards?

How is he with hecklers anyway?

Drunk lassie:  "Are you the Stig?"

S.  Lee:  "All heckles will be treated as if they are genuine enquiries.  No.  No, I am not "the Stig"."

[scarecrow]

How is he with hecklers anyway? I could imagine him being pretty poor with a persistent one.

The Madness of Chris

[vrailaine]

I mean one who goes on for the whole show.

Bought two tickets by mistake/outta habit, good chance I'll have one going for free on the week of it so.

[Depressed Beyond Tables]

From the Amazon preview of his new book:

'The worst comedian in Britain, as funny as bubonic plague.'­ The Sun

Also was this originally an April fools prank?

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

I mean one who goes on for the whole show.

A gig at the Lowry in Salford had a persistant heckler that really threw him - he even announced that it was the worst gig he'd ever done. To be fair, the guy seemed to think that the show was actually a discussion forum and began pre-empting the material and arguing about what was acceptable.

The audience turned ugly - Lee didn't want to throw the guy out, as he felt it would create a bad atmosphere, but the crowd felt differently.

[Paaaaul]

From the Amazon preview of his new book:

'The worst comedian in Britain, as funny as bubonic plague.'­ The Sun

Also was this originally an April fools prank?

He always sticks a bad review on all his promotional bumph - for balance.

[scarecrow]

Plagiarists' Corner is back!

[Tiny Poster]

Jon Holmes has made a career out of peddling sub-Lee and Herring/Iannucci 'material', so I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote that page.

[gmoney]

I mean one who goes on for the whole show.

Does anyone deal with that well?

[Steve Lampkins]

if he wrote that page

Could have been ripped off from many places, surely? There's probably been threads here that play with that old idea.

[Danger Man]

Plagiarists' Corner is back!

Having looked at the example, I really think he should rename it "Comedy ideas that come around every few years Corner".

I think Al Murray's 'Pub Landlord' book might have had a section on 'crappy sitcom titles' as well.

And didn't The Fast Show have a similar gag? That was only a year or so after Fist of Fun. Perhaps he'd better moan about that as well.

[scarecrow]

You can order the book off Amazon now, and they'll deliver it by Tuesday, apparently. There are some reviews on SLee's website. It sounds excellent, full of slights against other comics.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Transcripts?  Hmmm.

Has S. Lee ever gone on record about Blackadder or The Young Ones? 

Ben Elton's wheels may have fallen off in the last decade or so, but having a hand in the creation of Lady Whiteadder alone earns him perpetual salvation from the comedy deities.

Anyway, he's signing the book at Wordpower in Edinburgh on Aug 21st.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

EDIT - Stewart Lee is far better at being Stewart Lee than Ben Elton ever was. Not sure who has the bigger dad.

[Serge]

I've read the book, but have to admit to not having followed Lee's career or act particularly closely. I didn't realise until I started reading that it was based on transcripts of three of his shows, with (admittedly in-depth) bits before, between and after each transcript, and extremely lengthy footnotes throughout. The footnotes were particularly annoying, often going on for several pages, and I wish he'd somehow found a way of incorporating the information within the actual text. I found bits amusing, his attitude seemed too snotty though, the idea that he should dictate who will find his material funny or not just stinks. And I did occasionally feel that maybe the fact that people weren't laughing wasn't so much that they didn't 'get it' as that it just...wasn't really that funny?

Still, any book that mentions Michael Redmond can't be all bad, and I'm sure it will be more interesting to a lot of people on here than it was to me.