Stewart Lee: The Alternative Comedy Experience

[Thomas]

I am bored to an existential depth at seeing that website's name over and over again.

[Thursday]

This must be so that he can check how he is doing for time without making it obvious to the audience, right?

While at Bridget Christie's show in Edinburgh last week, I saw her take a sneaky look at her watch on the inside of her wrist.  It's the first time I've noticed a comedian do this.  Maybe Stu probably learned the trick off her, and refined it by moving the watch to the side of his wrist.

Well she does write all his funniest jokes.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

This must be so that he can check how he is doing for time without making it obvious to the audience, right?

While at Bridget Christie's show in Edinburgh last week, I saw her take a sneaky look at her watch on the inside of her wrist.  It's the first time I've noticed a comedian do this.  Maybe Stu probably learned the trick off her, and refined it by moving the watch to the side of his wrist.

It's a fucking disgrace and should I meet the 'liberal champion' Lee, I'll be sure to tell him.

[hummingofevil]

She did check her watch a few times. The other minor things that amused me is that she has started doing the whole this-side-of-the-room-gets-that-side-of-room-doesn't thing (surely its there as challenge to reviewers or audience to claim her husband s writing her show) and the fairly regular references to 'my husband' in her last few shows (the Catholic one in particular) have been replaced by Stewart Lee doing a 'my wife' routine. Power couple power shift.

Also, for the benefit of doubt the two Stewart Lee routines and Brigit Christie's set were all very, very funny. FUNNY!!!

[Tiny Poster]

Comedians checking their watches still fucks me off, even if it's someone I really like. Find a way to do it indiscreetly, people! Like Woody Allen, who incorporated his time-check into a bit about his dying grandfather, or Jack Benny, who had watches on the insides of both wrists so he could time reactions to individual lines.

[Bradley]

Fascinating lecture.  I strongly recommend it.

Has anyone seen this new alter-ego character, Baconface, who Stu's now created?  Apparently, a few days ago, the character walked off stage after a few minutes because he wasn't getting laughs at the Stand, at the Edinburgh Festival.  Story below.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/correspondents/2013/08/13/18471/baconface_leaves_a_bad_taste

I would be interested to see if Stewart Lee addresses this in any way. At face value its pretty disappointing.

Looking forward to seeing him 2-3 times next week though!

[sunjata]

I would be interested to see if Stewart Lee addresses this in any way. At face value its pretty disappointing.

I saw his Baconface show a couple of days ago.  Towards the start of the set, he said "I reserve the right to walk off at any time". This was part of an in-character joke about how short North American comedy sets are, but I and I think a minority of the rest of the audience also took this to be a reference to what had happened before. It caused a ripple of nervous laughter.

[Petey Pate]

His response will probably be entirely in the third person.  "Baconface is notoriously difficult and often has bad days etc etc"

[sen]

Just got such a laugh looking through Baconface's twitter, seeing Richard Bacon as one of the few people he's following.

[DJ One Record]

Comedians checking their watches still fucks me off, even if it's someone I really like. Find a way to do it indiscreetly, people! Like Woody Allen, who incorporated his time-check into a bit about his dying grandfather, or Jack Benny, who had watches on the insides of both wrists so he could time reactions to individual lines.

Russell Kane demonstrated a discreet way of doing this in that Yentob documentary, by putting his watch down right next to his drink at the side of the stage, so that when he goes for a drink he can check the time.

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

You could've pretty much left it there and saved yourself the bother.

Oh, here we go again. "You don't like Stewart Lee because you don't understand him blah blah fuckedy blah".

I understand him. I swear to God I understand him PERFECTLY. I just do not find him remotely funny.
I would sooner have a testicular cyst removed without anaesthetic than listen to this smug bastard.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Oh, here we go again. "You don't like Stewart Lee because you don't understand him blah blah fuckedy blah".

I understand him. I swear to God I understand him PERFECTLY. I just do not find him remotely funny.
I would sooner have a testicular cyst removed without anaesthetic than listen to this smug bastard.

Care to put your money where your mouth is?

[Thomas]

Nmkl, come on dude. Nobody's implied that you don't understand Stewart Lee.

I just do not find him remotely funny.

Great. Fine. Are we supposed to suddenly agree and become Better At Liking Comedy?[nb]As I've said, I'm not one for 'if you don't like it, ignore it,' because there's sometimes a lot of value in criticism and discussion, but that's not really what you're presenting. The answer to your woes is simple - don't watch Stewart Lee. You're not going to convert any Lee fans with your sub-Brooker hyperbole.[/nb]

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

If anyone can explain to me exactly why Stewart Lee is supposed to be funny, I'm here all afternoon and I will gladly shoot your reasons out of the fucking sky with all guns blazing.

Stewart Lee's fans fall into two basic categories -

1) Miserable prematurely middle-aged hipster Lefties who believe themselves to be intellectually superior because they endorse singer-songwriters who can neither sing or write songs (Billy Bragg) and would happily wear a lump of dogshit on the lapels of their corduroy jackets if they thought it would put them a cut above the common herd
2) Sad former students who thought he was funny or fancied him in the nineties.

There is a lengthy 'online criticism' section on his website for a reason. He is as SHIT as FUCK.

[Thomas]

Not a fan of Billy Bragg. Didn't know about Lee in the nineties.

Stewart Lee's comedy makes me laugh. It appeals to me. I don't base my life on the outlook of his deliberately smug onstage persona. He is a comedian who makes me laugh.

How can that be 'shot out the sky'? I like his work. It's subjective. People have different tastes. None of us are factually correct. It's good to discuss, but you just roll out tired assumptions about entire fanbases. If you don't like a work, you presume the audience is a huge mass of dribbling oafs. Must be lonely to dismiss swathes of people based on one thing they enjoy.

Stewart Lee's fans aren't the ones coming across as smug and superior here.

[Tiny Poster]

Oh, here we go again. "You don't like Stewart Lee because you don't understand him blah blah fuckedy blah".

I understand him. I swear to God I understand him PERFECTLY. I just do not find him remotely funny.
I would sooner have a testicular cyst removed without anaesthetic than listen to this smug bastard.

Testicular cysts are benign and do not require treatment, you tricky swine.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Does this mean you've run out of The Young Ones episodes to review, TC? Or is this just a taste of the inevitable future breakdown when you eventually do?

[Delete Delete Delete]

If anyone can explain to me exactly why Stewart Lee is supposed to be funny, I'm here all afternoon and I will gladly shoot your reasons out of the fucking sky with all guns blazing.

Stewart Lee's fans fall into two basic categories -

1) Miserable prematurely middle-aged hipster Lefties who believe themselves to be intellectually superior because they endorse singer-songwriters who can neither sing or write songs (Billy Bragg) and would happily wear a lump of dogshit on the lapels of their corduroy jackets if they thought it would put them a cut above the common herd
2) Sad former students who thought he was funny or fancied him in the nineties.

There is a lengthy 'online criticism' section on his website for a reason. He is as SHIT as FUCK.

There was the bit where he read out a comment by somebody called Jimmy Vespa about having a Gammon head, that was quite amusing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1p9KAW2tuE

[Phoenix Lazarus]

There is a lengthy 'online criticism' section on his website

Yes-including the immortal comment, 'Stewart Lee, I will shove my cock down your throat, you gaylord!' : p : D

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

The irony is, he bollocks other comedians for using writers, yet he used my "shit haired cunt" line and I didn't even get paid for it.

So much for socialism Stew, you slitty-eyed shagbaggag.

[Thomas]

The irony is, he bollocks other comedians for using writers

He didn't.

[Delete Delete Delete]

The irony is, he bollocks other comedians for using writers, yet he used my "shit haired cunt" line and I didn't even get paid for it.

So much for socialism Stew, you slitty-eyed shagbaggag.

See it is funny.

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

He didn't.

"You shoulda killed me last year."

Can't argue with that, Stew, though I'd have preferred it if you'd never been alive to begin with.

[Thomas]

'I don't like this performer. Therefore all his fans are morons and I am a superior human.'

How is anyone supposed to take that line of arguing - usually wrapped up in tedious ranting and hyperbole - seriously?

[Phoenix Lazarus]

you slitty-eyed shagbaggag.

'Slitty-eyed'!?  Reminds me of that quote from the online insults Lee requotes, that Stewart Lee, had an 'eskimo face for the 90s'.  The clip on YouTube where he reads that out on stage is funny, where he pauses afterwards and lifts his face up and tilts it round to the audience, to let them look at his features.

I don't know what 'shagbaggag' is.  Sounds north African or middle eastern.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any Jimmy Vespa material in the show he's running in at the moment.

Anyway, this isn't a thread for discussing Stewart Lee

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

Look, if you want to waste your lives on someone who couldn't even make a hyena laugh, that's fair, but this is supposed to be a comedy discussion forum, not a forum devoted to picking over the bones of a tedious tit who comes across as an even more humourless combination of 'Baz' (the host of Nozin' Around'), Malcolm the Modern Parent from Viz, and Student Grant.

Seriously, if there was a forum devoted to the discussion of archive comedy and nothing else, and it wasn't populated by barely literate arseholes who can barely form a sentence let alone put into words why they think something is great, I'd go there. I've searched and searched and there doesn't seem to be one, so it's either this or howling into the void, I'm afraid.

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

I don't know what 'shagbaggag' is.  Sounds north African or middle eastern.

It's Welsh. Well, the bloke who invented it is bloody Welsh.


"ALASHAPPALOOOD!"

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Sadly, there doesn't appear to be any Jimmy Vespa material in the show he's running in at the moment.

I've seen the clip where he does include a long Vespa insult in the list of insults he's received.  After quoting a long spiel of abuse of Vespa, he then adds, still quoting from the same speech from Vespa, 'I cannot find words...' and pauses while the audience laughs.  Brilliant!

[Nmkl Pkjl Ftmsch]

Some of the comments on his website are funnier than anything he's ever said, and that's a fact guv'nor.

"I hate Stewart Lee with a passion. He's like Ian Huntley to me." Wharto15, Twitter.

"He addressed an insular cadre of socially challenged, prematurely middle-aged, pseudo-intellectual men, I thought." Z-factor, Twitter.

"If smugness could be harnessed as a form of energy this man could help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels." Danazawa, Youtube.

"A mollycoddled uber-middleclass mummy's boy without a funny bone in his body. Verbal diarhorrea for stuffed shirts without a sense of humour." Pnethor, pne-online.com

"I'd never punch Stewart Lee in the face. His smugness would wrap itself round my fist and slowly consume it, infecting me in the process" - pudabaya, Twitter.

"Typical left wing wankstain. When someone happens to disagree with them, they just yell "Nazi" or "racist". When challenged, the pathetic cunts can't even justify why they've said it, they'll just repeat it ad nauseam. I suspect that many of Lee's fans think they're superior to everyone else because he's perceived as being a bit niche and edgy, when really he's just a smug, fat, unfunny shitbasket." Mrjohnnykitkat, Youtube

"His overwrought language, overthought logic and complete lack of comedic timing just leaves me scratching my head as to what those in the audience at his shows are laughing at" - cocainemidget, Guardian.co.uk

"Stewart Lee's jokes consist of taking a moderately funny idea and then spending 25 minutes slowly and repetitively beating it to death with a shovel." Tim J, liberalconspiracy.org

"I think the most impressive thing is his ability to find enough middle-aged angry champagne socialists to buy tickets for a horrendously unfunny act" - CorXXXSmile, YouTube.com

"Watch the audience - they're constantly nodding. And mostly pricks. I'd love to see Stewart Lee turn up and do a set in an average comedy club, get no laughs and then whinge about how stupid his audience is." Wil Robbo, Twitter

"To hear the audience braying with laughter always puzzles me; it makes me think I'm too "daft" to get it. However, I really think the audience forces laughter beacuse, as fully paid up members of the Liberal Left/Starbucks Society demographic, they feel they have to. My, that's a lovely new suit the Emperor's wearing isn't it. He is not a genius. He is shit on a stick." Processedpea, Guardian.co.uk

"A heckler could destroy his entire act simply by shouting "we get the fucking picture" from the back of the room in the first 5 minutes." Dirtbox, eurogamer.com

"He's a c*nt, people lap it up like they do Charlie Brooker yet both are prejudiced middle class tosspots. Brooker is a Weetabix haired trendy tosspiece trying to cling on to anything remotely cool these days and Stewart Lee is a hypocrite." Lents, redandwhitekop.com

"An aging cunt with an Eskimo face from the 90s." Shindig, thedugout.net