Stewart Lee divides comedy fans; his control of an audience is masterly, though he rarely tells conventional jokes and has no physical skills to speak of apart from stoutly leaning on his mic stand and occasionally capering up and down. I find him screamingly funny; plenty don’t, accusing him of smugness and a wilful disdain for the punters. “I’m up here like a god and you’re down there in the dark like pigs in an Essex ditch,” he informs the “cackling sycophants” of Southend-on-Sea in Stewart Lee: Content Provider (Saturday, BBC2, 10.45pm). They love it.
Filmed on one of the last nights of his latest tour, he actually does begin with a (foul) political joke, but soon settles into familiar routines of analysing levels of audience enthusiasm, decrying his rivals (the set is littered with their DVDs) and pontificating on the nature of comedy: a good line “ends on or near a hard consonant”, he maintains, and there’s a lengthy analysis of the comic value of the phrase, “soon-to-be-deported eastern European workers”.
His recent BBC2 series — axed, as he bitterly informs the audience — featured segments in which Chris Morris sternly pointed out Lee’s manifold personal and professional deficiencies. Here his interlocutor is graphic novel genius Alan Moore, to whom Lee confesses, “It’s not something that I feel is good enough to broadcast.”
Those who enjoy “pretentious, meta-textual, self-aware shit” will disagree, and for everyone else, there’s always Michael McIntyre.
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
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Liam Travitt, Twitter
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Mpf1947, Youtube
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Z-factor, Twitter.
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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World Without End, Twitter
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FBC, finalgear.com
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Visualiser1, Twitter
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Slothy Matt, Twitter
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Pudabaya, Twitter
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Borathigh5, Youtube
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Brighton Argus
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Stuart, Chortle
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Rudeness, Youtube
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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Robert Gavin, Twitter
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Bosco239, youtube
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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Mearecate, Youtube
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Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Funday’schild, youtube.
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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Gabrielle, Chortle.com
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Peter Fears, Twitter
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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John Robins, Comedian
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Tokyofist, Youtube
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Kozzy06, Youtube
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Stokeylitfest, Twitter
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Shit Crit, Twitter
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Foxfoxton, Youtube
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Jackmumf, Twitter