I’d given up on ever again finding stand-up on TV funny, so Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle didn’t arouse antic expectations. But actually it is properly funny, and what makes him funny is instructive. He plays a character. It’s not him, it’s a performance. He’s not just a spooky, needy fat man telling jokes; Lee’s character is a spooky, needy fat man, a metropolitan socialist with a bucket of self-loathing, insecurity, thin skin and well-deserved doubts, telling jokes. He is a Corbynista Tony Hancock, and it’s a good creation, delivered with astute vehemence.
Lee points out that comedy has made him a member of the middle class, where he is hated, and you know this is an act because, in real life, Lee went to a public school — he was a contemporary of Richard Hammond, whom he once hilariously wished was dead — and then to Oxford; and he writes musicals. His mockable working- class persona is tee-hee gold. If you regret the passing of really whiny political humour and wondered who on earth was going to pick up the jester’s cap, look no further.
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Stokeylitfest, Twitter
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Bosco239, youtube
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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