If you’ve ever played dominoes, you’ll know that while the first number has to match with the next, the last may not match with the first. I’m afraid this came to mind when I went to see Stewart Lee and Friends at his one-off Silver Stewbilee show at the Festival Theatre on 18th August.
There is an assumption that if someone makes you laugh, whoever makes them laugh will make you laugh too. Eh, no! Going by the comedy crowd laughter, I was in the minority but mostly the rest of the acts failed to reach my funny bone. There was neither programme nor flyer so the guests on the bill were a mystery. Some were a great surprise and a real pleasure to see, like the daft and novel Bridget Christie as A. Ant and amazingly Franz Ferdinand, both of whom gave terrific performances. Apart from them, I’ll move on.
This was Stewart Lee’s night. The evening was a celebration of his 20-odd years in stand up and to promote his book , How I escaped my Certain Fate: The Lives and Deaths of a Stand up Comedian. The title, How I escaped my Certain Fate, comes from a punk song by Mission of Burma and was played at the end of the gig by Franz Ferdinand. Nice touch!
I came across Lee by chance on his late-night TV show Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and immediately liked his style. He is observant and topical. He uses repetition like a fairy tale in his own comic flights of fantasy, maybe to make sure the audience stays up to speed with his sharp, self-referential Borgesian style.
He used old and new material in the gig with his intelligent melding and observation of societal bigotry and liberalism. He covered the urban myths around country living, Gaelic as an ancient Scottish polari, Braveheart, crisps, charity and a certain topical news team named as the Seven Dwarves. Clever, original and funny.
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Guest1001, Youtube
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Rubyshoes, Twitter
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Stuart, Chortle
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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John Robins, Comedian
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
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Gabrielle, Chortle.com
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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Stokeylitfest, Twitter
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Jamespearse, Twitter
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Leach Juice, Twitter
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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Visualiser1, Twitter
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Tokyofist, Youtube
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Rudeness, Youtube
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Bosco239, youtube
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Jackmumf, Twitter
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Peter Fears, Twitter
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Danazawa, Youtube
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Mrdavisn01, Twitter
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Pudabaya, Twitter
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Borathigh5, Youtube
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Sidsings000, Youtube
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Foxfoxton, Youtube
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Sweeping Curves, Twitter
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Mpf1947, Youtube
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Secretdeveloper, Youtube
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
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Fairy Pingu, Twitter
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Cyberbloke, Twitter
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Robert Gavin, Twitter