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Content Provider (The Show)Discontent provider comes with a host of laughs and great value

Content Provider - Charter Theatre Preston

By Aasma Day in Lancashire Post Posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2018

£3.67. That’s the cheapest price you can apparently buy a Stewart Lee DVD if you hunt online – and it’s a fact the top comedian’s deeply embi ered stage persona is immensely proud of.

Surrounded on stage by piles of other stand-ups’ DVDs which he bought for as li le as 1p each or possibly for 50p from a charity shop, Stewart Lee feels a smug satisfaction at being the comic whose DVDs retail second-hand for the highest price.

He even brags about how if he spots any selling for slightly cheaper, he buys them himself and sells them on for an extra paltry profit of around 14 pence.

Although he was momentarily taken aback when he asked a woman in the audience to guess the cheapest price of his DVDs online, only to have her say 5p – “that’s the lowest amount anyone has ever guessed!” he protested.

Disappointment, anger and bit- terness feature highly in Stewart Lee’s Content Provider show – and all to hilarious effect.

From political rantings about Brexit and Trump to his bi er annoyance at not having his BAFTA winning BBC show Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle recommissioned for another series, Stewart Lee turns resentful humour into an art form.

He even boasts with wi y narcis- sism to the ti ering audience that his tour so far has generated four and five- star reviews so any failure to get laughs, won’t be down to problems his side of the stage.

But he saved his real venom for bril- liantly mocking the under-40 genera- tions for their selfie and social media obsessed way of living and the way they take for granted ge ing everything they want neatly packaged and delivered to them.

Indeed, Stewart Lee kicks off the show by making his hatred of people’s reliance and obsession with technology clear by telling the crowd that if he spots anyone looking at their mobile phone, he will take it and smash it underfoot on stage.
So I think you can safely assume there weren’t any selfies taken with fans.

With his sneering superiority and observational humour, Stewart Lee is cleverly funny and from his local insults aimed at the people of Garstang to the jibes aimed at fellow comedian Russell Howard, he certainly invoked plenty of laughter.

In the second half, a few of his jokes such as his imaginings of the kinky bondage sex lives of our grandparents went on a bit, but he then manages to pull it back by balancing his arrogance with tales of how his own family don’t find him funny and view being a come- dian as not a “proper job”.

Stewart Lee is wonderfully scathing and hilarious and the show provided plenty of enjoyable laughter.

But if you missed it, don’t worry – I’m sure it will be out on DVD soon … but it’ll cost you a lot more than 1p.

Written by Aasma Day in Lancashire Post on 23rd March 2018. Filed Under: Content Provider (Show), Reviews
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