HE feels like a failure. Having been voted the 41st best stand-up comedian ever in one of those ridiculous Channel 4 countdown shows, he’d be forgiven for assuming his place in the hearts and minds of the British public was assured.
But as he tells us, after 20 years of sciatica inducing touring, and a few extra pounds of middle-age spread, the ’41st best’ accolade doesn’t really get you anywhere. Even when a BBC2 producer offers you your dream six-part series, you can have that shiny new toy taken away and stamped on. So you’re left toiling away on the circuit, playing to half-empty theatres such as the Nottingham Playhouse.
Of course, despite the general ranting at his own career misfortunes, his tongue is firmly set in his cheek. Stewart Lee is so incredibly clever that he can make his whole routine a convincing diatribe of his personal career woes, but with the subtleties and nuances of a seasoned professional that leave us no doubt in just why those that did turned up in the first place.
His timing is impeccable. The weight of the punchline reinforced by the pause that precedes it. And it works in all parts of his act, from the surrealist take on a Portuguese sardine, to the ethics of observational comedy.
There may have been one or two troughs in an otherwise skillfully constructed and executed set, but whether 41st or not his task is to make us laugh. And he does his job brilliantly.
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