“Stewart Lee has absolutely no capacity to see the world through anyone’s eyes other than his own. He is a stupid person’s idea of what a ‘clever’ comedian is like.”

– Paul Embery, UnHerd columnist, Trade unionist (FBU and NUJ), Blue Labour, Made in Dagenham, Author: ‘Despised: Why the Modern Left Loathes the Working Class’.

Please look after yourselves in the ongoing unknown world and don’t take any unnecessary risks.

Keep fit and keep your brains ticking over with books and films and music and don’t get sad and mad, and look out for each other.

When all this is over, I promise you, live comedy and music will feel better than they ever have, so let’s make sure we are all there to join in again on the other side.

1) LIVE DATES NEWS

What can I say?
You live in the same reality as me. You know as much as I do.
All my little club dates for Jan and Feb will be in the process of being pulled. At the moment The Scottish and Geordie Stand shows in Feb are still on, as the virus is more scared of N Sturgeon than it is of B Johnson. We will see.

I assure you, ALL THESE DATES WILL BE RESCHEDULED. The venues have your money, not me, and although I am sure loads of you could do with it, if you can let these clubs hang on to it for now it could mean the difference between surviving and going under, and we all want a world of live art to go back to.

If major tour dates are moved all the same applies.
Thank-you for your patience.
I am planning on re-writing the SNOWFLAKE half of SNOWFLAKE/TORNADO to reflect our drastically altered world and will make as good a recording as possible of the abandoned original SNOWFLAKE available at some point.

2) PETITION FOR MUSIC, COMEDY TOURING

If you like music then bear in mind that its already covid-fucked practitioners are further fucked by the Brexit agreement, which ends the one size fits all arrangement for touring all EU member states cost-effectively, and renders it financially near impossible for most of the UK’s best acts to tour the continent to the smaller places they have got used to playing over the last near five decades, whatever shit Roger Daltrey comes out with, the stupid UKIP-supporting twat.

This is a petition to ask parliament to try and hammer out some arrangement to stem the further decimation of live art, including all the nice English language stand-up gigs all your favorite acts got to play of late, so please sign it.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/563294

3) COMIN’ OVER HERE TOPS THE CHARTS

Thanks to everyone who bought, and told their friends to buy, the Asian Dub Foundation track, Comin’ Over Here, which featured me shouting.

It reached the top of all the actual charts reflecting actual sales and actual downloads, but in the valueless streaming chart it was beaten by the likes of Wham’s Last Christmas, a worthy victor, which was doubtless streamed endlessly over the season by people weeping into their bread sauce.

Our disc will make loads for Kent Refugee Action Network and is still available here https://smarturl.it/cominoverhere

As Mark Steel, the thrust of whose brilliant In Town Radio 4 series has recently been culturally appropriated on behalf of Channel 4 in Tom Allen Goes To Town, pointed out, ADF have enabled me to join the pantheon of pop chart topping British comics alongside Ken Dodd and Benny Hill.

Thanks also to my favourite obscene electropop act Kunt & The Gang, who graciously co-ordinated their seasonal chart assault with ours, and to Jon Morter, Sally Homer, James Hingley, Duncan Ballantyne and whoever runs a facebook page about me who knew how to target the social media.

4) KING ROCKER – MOJO

Our documentary KING ROCKER was selected for the Sheffield Documentary Festival but didn’t get screened due to Covid.
It has, however, been named by rock-mag MOJO as the second best rockumentary of 2020, and I am now allowed to announce that it will be on newly free-to-air SKY ARTS, which has also recently covered PUNCHDRUNK THEATRE, COLD WAR STEVE and IVOR CUTLER, on Jan 30th 2021 (as far as I know). Who would have thought that the weird arts brief of BBC4 would one day be fulfilled by SKY ARTS?

Comedian Stewart Lee and director Michael Cumming (Brass Eye) investigate a missing piece of punk history. Robert Lloyd, best known for fronting cult bands The Prefects and The Nightingales, has survived under the radar for over four decades. Anti-rockumentary King Rocker weaves the story of Birmingham’s undervalued underdog autodidact into that of the city’s forgotten public sculpture of King Kong, eschewing the celebrity interview and archive-raid approach for a free-associating bricolage of Indian food, bewildered chefs, vegetable gardening, prescription medicines, pop stardom and pop art.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have been involved with this positive and uplifting project, and it has been a mental lifeline this year.

https://www.firerecords.com/films/king-rocker/
https://www.firerecords.com/films/

5) MEDIA GARAGE SALE

My trusted sales partner Media Garage has compacted all my available stand-up dvds into one convenient on-line marketplace, with most available to d/load too.

The company operates out of an industrial unit in Southend, run by a man called Colin, who for the whole festive season will be alone and dressed as a Santa while he ships your orders of Xmas laffs worldwide, at top speed!

We have already mailed parcels of fun to Japan, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, France, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and even Latvia! Remember, if you buy here we will pay tax on these purchases, and help with British schools and hospitals, whereas many major physical media suppliers and streaming services have found ways to avoid declaring their profits.

AMERICANS – stop moaning about not being able to see me and visit MEDIA GARAGE!

MEDIA GARAGE | MORE INFO ON THE MERCH PAGE

6) SAVE BEER

In a world where so much is in freefall it seems crazy to single out any one deserving cause, but if you like beer as much as me why not go to;

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/can-you-do-it-forthe-goodness

and chuck in to save The Goodness, a Wood Green microbrewery run by my old neighbours’ son, which was just coming together from start-up when the Covid struck, and Tier 5 restrictions have just removed even the takeaway option.

We will need music, art, and comedy on the other side of the virus.
But above all we will need beer. And loads of it.

7) I Arrogantly Recommend

NEW TV

Ghosts – Xmas Special 2020 (BBC, 2020)

NEW MUSIC

Lady Leshurr – Quaranqueen
The Primevals – New Trip

8) FINALLY, DAVID JOHNSON

Few real fans of comedy, theatre and music will have been untouched by the work of my old promoter of these last fifteen years, David Johnson, who died in December, and received nothing but massive love from all that encountered.

Here are two lovely obituaries from The Herald Scotland and The Guardian, the latter by his great friend the playwright Mark Ravenhill.
At some stage there will be the tribute show to end all tribute shows. But not yet.

Herald Scotland

The Guardian

9) IN OUR COVID ERA LAMENTATIONS

Bunny Lee (dubmaster, 1940)
David Johnson (Duke of Soho, 1960)
Leslie West (Mountain man, 1945)