Describe stand-up comedians. Easy isn’t it? The clue is in the name, right? They’re those people who stand up at a microphone and perform a comedy routine. People like Stewart Lee.
Would that it were that simple. Take this show, for example. Described as “ambient stand-up storytelling” – part comedy, part theatre and part biography. It may not quite know what it wants to be, but it’s no worse off for its lack of a pigeonhole.
Comedy, it is said, differs from theatre in that it breaks down the invisible wall between the performer and the audience. There are few bettwe examples of this than Stewart Lee.
Even here in what is essentially a theatrical piece – he can’t resist prefacing the show with a personal introduction to the audience in which he tells them how they can tell when he’s acting, where he has placed his notes and which part of the show to look out for as “the boring bit”.
Commissioned to write a treatment for a biopic on Edward Lear, Lee sets about conducting research – primarily centred around Lear’s poem The Owl And The Pussycat.
Amongst his discoveries are a diary written by the owl, random scribblings by paranoid strangers and a tree in a cemetary infested with owls.
Somewhere along the line, this seems to be connected with a serious plumbing problem that stops Lee from either using the toilet or focusing on the project, much to the chagrin of the lead actor who has been lined up to play Lear. When that actor is Ray Winstone, it’s time to start worrying.
There are some wonderful gags and ideas woven into this show, punctuated by Lee’s talent to apply a comedian’s logic to an illogical verse.
With Simon Munnery playing Ray Winstone as Edward Lear, and the atmospheric live cello backing, it’s an eclectic evening of high entertainment, if not finally undone by the uncertainty of what it is trying to be.
Lacking the big pay-off punchline of a comedy routine or the dramatic closure of a theatrical piece, the disparate strands are never satisfactorily resolved. Still, this isn’t comedy or theatre, but “ambient stand-up storytelling”, remember? So who’s the say that this isn’t the intention?
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Sidsings000, Youtube
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Wharto15, Twitter
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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Carcrazychica, Youtube
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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Gwaites, Digitalspy
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Fairy Pingu, Twitter
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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Sweeping Curves, Twitter
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Liam Travitt, Twitter
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Brighton Argus
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Idrie, Youtube
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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John Robins, Comedian
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Slothy Matt, Twitter
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Shit Crit, Twitter
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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Gabrielle, Chortle.com
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Bosco239, youtube
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Clampdown59, Twitter.
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Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
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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Jamespearse, Twitter
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Mearecate, Youtube
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Keilloh, Twitter
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Visualiser1, Twitter
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Rubyshoes, Twitter
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Danazawa, Youtube
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
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Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Rudeness, Youtube
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Cyberbloke, Twitter
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World Without End, Twitter
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Etienne, Chortle.com