Comedian Stewart Lee favoured the Watford Colosseum with the debut of his new tour Stewart Lee: Digital Content Provider last Tuesday night but after railing at the audience for not laughing in all the right places he told us not to come to his show if we ‘didn’t know anything’.
But what does the acclaimed stand up know about our town?
His opening gambit was to say Watford lay outside the M25 and later in a blisteringly funny sequence about people under the age of 37, he went off on one about Game of Thrones but failed to reference the fact that Watford’s own Kings Langley once changed its name to King’s Landing in honour of the cult fantasy series?
Don’t you know anything about Watford Stewart Lee? Well actually he did refer to Pavarotti having once used the auditorium toilets but I suspect that was pre-refurb so they might not even be the same cubicles where the renowned opera singer relieved himself.
Don’t come to Watford Stew if you don’t know anything about Watford…
What Stewart Lee does know, however is how to perfectly hone a night of satire, political discourse, insightful social comment and downright silliness in two 45-minute segments packed full of information.
You will find out how people enjoyed bondage back in the 1930s, you’ll discover the folly of the selfie-obsessed and reel with belly laughs at the retail value of DVDs made by household name comics.
Stewart is on to this though and has a scheme where he buys back his DVDs to sell for profit, hence when I made it into the queue at the end I asked him to sign my copy to Stewart Lee from Stewart Lee in the hope of boosting his profits.
Still as he continues to hone material of this original and prophetic quality I don’t think he’s in any danger of being out of work.
Five stars
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Liam Travitt, Twitter
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Kozzy06, Youtube
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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Rubyshoes, Twitter
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Jackmumf, Twitter
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Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
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Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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World Without End, Twitter
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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John Robins, Comedian
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Tokyofist, Youtube
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Shit Crit, Twitter
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Borathigh5, Youtube
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Brighton Argus
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Peter Fears, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Mrdavisn01, Twitter
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com