Stewart Lee’s series offers rare fidelity to the “warts and all” of live comedy. - July 2016 popmatters.com - By Haran Sivapalan - July 5th, 2016

Live vs. Televised Comedy A comedy audience is a capricious animal. Sometimes it cackles on cue, lapping up punchlines with an almost-Pavlovian predictability. At other times, it merely stares back at you, seemingly unresponsive to the highly crafted material it’s fed. The responses are not always binary like this. Often, the organism mutates and divides…

Analysis of Stewart Lee’s charity routine (Comedy Vehicle s2e3) - November 2015 My Broken ID - November 3rd, 2015

when i was 8 or 9 years old, i asked my parents if it would be possible for them to send some of the money they normally spent on my christmas presents to a charity, of the starving african variety. i don’t know where i came up with the idea, but the odds are an…

Stewart Lee: Comedy messiah - June 2011 Chortle - By Hazel Humphreys - June 2nd, 2011

All comedy is essentially divisive. If jokes have an essential direction and attitude, there’s always going to be someone who’s not happy with the way a joke is going and how it’s getting there. For example, I cite the scientific research conducted by Channel 4, which found that 99.99997 per cent of the human race…

In praise of… Stewart Lee - June 2011 The Guardian - June 2nd, 2011

His performances unfurl like a stroll on a summer’s day: scenery and good companionship take precedence over destination When praising a comedian it is generally a good idea to quote one of his or her jokes. The trouble with Stewart Lee is that he doesn’t really do gags – at least not in the traditional…

Amongst the Crowd - May 2011 Amongst the Crowd - By mattlocke - May 20th, 2011

Most of the discussion around social media and TV focuses on the technologies being invented, or the potential business models (or lack of them) emerging. But we don’t often talk about what it means for the writers, directors and other talent involved in making TV. This Guardian article shows a mixed picture, with Iain Morris,…

Cultural Life: Jez Butterworth, playwright - May 2011 The Independent - By Morgan Durno - May 20th, 2011

Theatre: Having been in New York, I just saw Punchdrunk’s ‘Sleep No More’, an adaptation of ‘Macbeth’, where the set is an entire building in NYC’s Chelsea district. With six floors, it’s fantastically designed so you can walk around freely putting together the pieces of the play yourself; it’s the most amazing, fully-immersive experience. In…