After two series of the critically acclaimed Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle on BBC Two it’s fair to say the sardonic comic hasn¹t been riding this high in the popularity stakes since the mid-90s heyday of Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard, Not Judy.
However, this doesn’t stop him lamenting the growing presence of “the Jimmy Carr demographic” in his live crowds and regularly informing his new fans parts of the routine are not for them.
Lee takes to the stage with a mock ‘rock star’ entrance and a backdrop of rolled up carpets.
He then spends the next two hours delivering a relentless tirade against Twitter, modern life and the problems of writing stand up when his only reference points are driving to gigs and watching Scooby Doo with his son.
This feeds in to a spectacularly surreal rant taking in Thatcher, canyon rope bridges and Bovril, but there is so much more to the show than hot beverages, Tory cuts and supernatural pirates.
Lee brilliantly satirises comedy conventions, highlighting tricks used by lazy comedians to prompt laughs, as well as pointing out where his own material is/isn’t working.
Carpet Remnant World show might be a patchwork of varying themes, but Lee remains a master of the stand up art, challenging audience expectations before drawing it all together to deliver a satisfying pay-off. His problems with ‘new fans’ only look set to continue.
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