The older Stewart Lee gets the more militant he becomes. Carpet Remnant World finds stand-up’s Tony Benn raging at the state of the nation with satirical style.
It also finds him raging at the state of comedy. There are swipes at Frankie Boyle, Russell Kane, Jimmy Carr, Ricky Gervais and more. Deceased writers do not escape this dissident’s deadpan wrath. Look out George Orwell.
As he explains, with brutal sarcasm, there is no narrative. Unfortunately he never has adventures which inspire material because he stays in watching cartoons with his son. This is merely a disingenuous dig at comedians who turn their lives into anecdotage. Lee has his Fairtrade cake and scoffs it, wittily describing his tedious domesticity, while getting gags out of Twitter and Googling himself. A highlight is reading unprintable online insults over a jazz soundtrack.
This set boasts little of the trademark repetition or taboo-busting of recent monologues, so by his standards it feels underpowered. It is, however, polished and funny, particularly if you are a comedy trainspotter. Michael McIntyre fans may be baffled but for Lee’s chin-stroking devotees Carpet Remnant World cuts a hilarious rug.
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Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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John Robins, Comedian
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Al Murray, Comedian
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot