The Artistry Of Standup Comedy - October 2015 Exeunt Magazine - October 1st, 2015

This is an Excerpt from ‘The Artistry of Stand Up Comedy’, here. Stand-up comedy is so very Brechtian. It is as if all comedians, consciously or unconsciously, exist at this pole of theatrical theory. The frame of comedy itself is a large, obviously unreal, artistic construction, where every element of life is turned on its…

Gig review by Steve Bennett at the Leicester Square Theatre - September 2015 Chortle - By Steve Bennett - September 30th, 2015

‘No one’s equipped to review me,’ Stewart Lee asserts with his usual mix of certainty and superiority – guaranteeing this very same line will kick-start a dozen critiques… including this one. Because it’s true: there can’t be a line, a pause, a change of tone that Lee hasn’t considered in so much more depth than…

Jazz Chicken - September 2015 Dayglo Badger - By Dayglo Badger - September 12th, 2015

This week’s post is brought to you by Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle. Series 3 is on Netflix and I’ve been watching it again. If you can, and like that sort of thing or want to try it, I’d recommend episode 4 – “context”. “The conflict of interest I would have would be if Nando’s were…

Stewart Lee at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar - September 2015 Brighton Source - By Stuart Huggett - September 10th, 2015

He’s big enough to have sold out two nights at the Dome earlier this year but Stewart Lee’s appearance at Sticky Mike’s this evening is proof that Brighton’s finest comedy nights come thanks to Brian Gittins, of all people. From Harry Hill’s visit last September, through guest slots from Al Murray and Nick Helm and onwards (next…

A Room With A Stew ★★★★★ - August 2015 Nouse.co.uk - By Liam Mullally - August 27th, 2015

Venue: The Assembly Rooms Stewart Lee does not hide the fact that he is using his run of shows at the Fringe in order to test and refine material for his BBC 2 programme, Comedy Vehicle. The fact that he is testing half hour sections does not, however, impede the brilliance of his performance, or…

A Room With A Stew ★★★★ - August 2015 TvBomb.co.uk - By Michael Shand - August 27th, 2015

Mixing unorthodox jazz music with a deliberately screwed up pre-show announcement, and entering the vicinity wearing incongruous trainers, the audience are at once given a clue as to just how complex, multi-layered, and stand alone Stewart Lee’s A Room With A Stew is going to be. Constantly breaking all the unwritten rules about how a…