It’s fair to say that Stewart Lee polarises opinion.
To some, the writer and comedian is ‘a true artist of comedy’.
To Jan Moir of The Daily Mail he is ‘a slime-pit of bitterness’.
But it has to be said that the mixed stew of ideas that he brought to the Crucible for two sell-out nights in preparation fora third BBC TV series achieved his aims of making you think and laugh in equal measure.
Exploring ideas from the internet and imagination, parental alcoholism, urban foxes, vasectomies, to Throne of Blood and ‘the rest of the oeuvre of Kurosawa’, The Big Bang and UKIP he plays on the insecurities of the liberal-thinking ‘Ocado generation’.
“You’re laughing at your guilt over self-selective education,” he tells the audience.
But beneath the thin veneer of intellectual superiority lurk Lee’s own demons.
The ’45-year-old vasectomised, functioning alcoholic father-of-two’ says that he gets most of his material from cab drivers, because they are the only adults he mixes with these days.
After a two-hour invitation to begin the backlash before transmission of his series in the spring, he bounds up the stairs into the night, possibly in search of new material from the cabbie taking him back to his hotel.
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Visualiser1, Twitter
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Rudeness, Youtube
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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World Without End, Twitter
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Slothy Matt, Twitter
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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John Robins, Comedian
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
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Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Guest1001, Youtube
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Clampdown59, Twitter.
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Brighton Argus
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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Foxfoxton, Youtube
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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Peter Fears, Twitter
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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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Secretdeveloper, Youtube
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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Jackmumf, Twitter
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Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com