Radio review #4: What Happened to Counter-Culture? - August 2025 Simon Warner's Substack - By Simon Warner - August 7th, 2025

IT IS HARDLY unhelpful, for the readers of this website, to report that a new BBC radio series on the history of the transatlantic counterculture begins with Allen Ginsberg reading in a 1950s performance of ‘Howl’ in the US and ends with the same poet speaking with a similar and distinctive tone at 1965’s International…

The 50 funniest comedians of the 21st century - July 2023 The Telegraph - By Mark Monahan - July 29th, 2023

This list is a bit of a joke. This sort of list always is. Rank the 50 best anything – novels, crisps – and people start ­fuming. “Why isn’t Middlemarch #1?” “How dare you snub Wotsits?” Comedy is, as any fule kno, ­subjective. Stand-up is a broad church, taking in character ­comedy (the Pub Landlord) and musical ­parody…

STEWART LEE – TORNADO REVIEW - September 2022 Cult Following - By Ewan Gleadow - September 29th, 2022

What becomes clear with Stewart Lee in this latest stand-up set is his shtick. He has lasted far longer than most to ever grace the stage. The camera angles, the choice of wordplay. It is beautiful. Unravelling that still feels like being in on the bit, but once inside, the cold reach of the outdoors…

TV: Stewart Lee, Tornado, BBC Two - September 2022 Beyond The Joke - By Bruce Dessau - September 8th, 2022

I wonder if @Slack_TV will be risking his life and tuning in to the broadcast of Stewart Lee’s show Tornado on Sunday. Last Sunday, when Lee’s show Snowflake was broadcast on BBC Two it nearly killed @slack_TV according to his Twitter posts. He wrote: “As my regular followers know I have a machine to help…

Edinburgh Fringe: Snowflake - August 2022 Fest - By Craig Angus - August 12th, 2022

You’ll likely have an opinion on Stewart Lee. There’s a good chance that it’s related to your politics – he’s beloved of sensitive left-leaning types and singled out for savage opprobrium by right wing grifters, who view him as a torchbearer for politically correct comedy. Even for those who find themselves in agreement with the…

Edinburgh Fringe: Snowflake - August 2022 On The Mic - By Martin Walker - August 11th, 2022

Every live stand up show is an unique event and the possibility of failure is real. Will the audience behave as anticipated? Stewart Lee has been touring Snowflake for some time and the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe run at The Stand’s New Town Theatre marks the end of its life. This afternoon, this is what happened…