“YOU’VE got to up your game”, comedian Stewart Lee mockingly berated the High Wycombe audience of his show at the Swan last night, after claiming yet another of his jokes didn’t get the response it deserved.
He claimed his exasperation at the crowd was not part of his regular routine, joking that a fair portion of Wycombe’s audience simply seemed too slack-witted to keep up.
I didn’t believe that for a second – Lee’s carefully polished, precision-calibrated act has no doubt been scolding audiences up and down the country in the name of laughs on his latest tour, Much A-Stew About Nothing.
Lee is frequently regarded as one of the finest stand-ups working today, and last night’s performance did nothing to make me disagree. He delivered almost two hours of consistently excellent material and I would happily have stayed for two more.
His latest tour changes depending on what night you see it. He performs three of six half-hour long routines that will form the basis for his next BBC TV series of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle.
Last night the subjects up for discussion were, as ever, lofty ones – pornography and the death of the human imagination, racism and depression – well, that of a 45-year-old father of two who has undergone a vasectomy and is a “functioning alcoholic”, anyway.
There was no support act – Lee effectively warmed up the audience himself up with ten minutes of material centring on his hatred of dogs, while finding time to take pot shots at drug dealers’ poor attitudes to canine fouling, Cameron’s Big Society, the plight of the overseas factory worker and, again, the audience for being half-asleep on a Sunday evening.
Those familiar with Lee’s work will find no shocks in the type of material here. Sharp, brilliantly sarcastic, slightly aggressive and always hilarious, he panders to his image as a middle class lefty, using his act to comment on himself, his material, and the audience and their reactions throughout.
Then there is his habit of repetition (“I hate dogs”, he barks for the umpteenth time, still generating laughs) and patience stretching pauses and silences. One sequence sees Lee deploy one of his favourite tricks, a one-sided imaginary telephone conversation that is so convincingly done, and goes on for so long, that I think I might have forgotten there was no one on the other end of the line at one point.
The beauty of Lee is the way his material moves one extreme to the other – what seems to start off as a fairly obvious gag about a UKIP statement on immigration, for instance, eventually becomes a conceptual trip to the birth of the universe and beyond as he embarks on a wild flight of – not so much fancy, but logical reductionism, veering off in all directions as he does so.
Another gag in the same segment takes us on a very funny fantasy of Lee’s imaginary wives and how good they are at putting reactionary cab drivers in their place. He has a great ability to marry knowing (and occasionally morose) whimsy with harder edged material that earns laughs in unexpected ways.
Lee isn’t for everyone – the area of the audience I was in lapped up his show, so whether there were blanker sections of the crowd (as he sardonically claimed) was hard to judge. But certainly one or two may have found his habit of stretching his jokes to breaking point frustrating.
Personally I think his confidence and boldness to push his audiences in this way is what makes him stand out from the stand-up crowd. I thought his act last night was hilarious and brilliantly delivered.
I enjoyed every moment and was several times reduced to tears by the strength of flavours in this superbly judged comedic stew of ideas.
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Shit Crit, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Mearecate, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Joycey, readytogo.net
Joycey, readytogo.net
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Borathigh5, Youtube
Borathigh5, Youtube
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Anamatronix, Youtube
Anamatronix, Youtube
Funday’schild, youtube.
Funday’schild, youtube.
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Guest1001, Youtube
Guest1001, Youtube
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Bosco239, youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Chez, Chortle.com
Chez, Chortle.com
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Hiewy, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
Keilloh, Twitter
Keilloh, Twitter
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Idrie, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Danazawa, Youtube
Danazawa, Youtube
Tin Frog, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Jackmumf, Twitter
Jackmumf, Twitter
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Mpf1947, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Wharto15, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Kozzy06, Youtube
Kozzy06, Youtube
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Z-factor, Twitter.
Z-factor, Twitter.
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Youtube
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
Fowkes81, Twitter
Fowkes81, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter