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A Room With A StewReview: Stewart Lee @ The Lowry Theatre, Salford

Gareth Tidman enjoys a night of laughs from high brow comedian Stuart Lee.

By Gareth Tidman in Manchester Evening News Posted on Saturday, February 14th, 2015

You must know the Stewart Lee story by now.

It’s the tale of the high brow comedian who broke through in the 1990’s only to find himself pushed to the margins as stand up went primetime.

But Lee became the comeback kid who eventually landed his own BBC series after honing his stand up talents in clubs up and down the land away from the glare of mainstream.

Despite the appearance of a rambling, emotive tirade, it is the precision planning and comedic craft that is the key to his success”

He became the master craftsman of comedy, an artisan performer who could skillfully manipulate the mood of a room, wrong foot his audience, and even deconstruct his act as he performed it, all while keeping the laughs rolling in.

Tonight he’s back in Salford for what seems like an annual visit.

And he is very much a man on top of game.

Anyone who has seen his TV show, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, for which this gig is a chance to road test new material, will know what to expect.
All present are the repetitive routines that start promisingly, go off the boil before inexplicably sparking back to life, and the jibes at right wing targets.
Norris McWhirter, Ukip and Rod Liddle all come under fire to the delight of the beady, Guardian loving intelligensia who form a sizable part of the audience.
And for such apparently irritable stage persona he is clearly enjoying himself. At points he even breaks character after failing to stiffle laughs at his own supposed ad libs, the first on the resemblance of Salford Quays to a futuristic landscape from a Mad Max movie.

Yet despite the appearance of a rambling, emotive tirade, it is the precision planning and comedic craft that is the key to his success. It is precisely this that allows him to bring the intimacy of small comedy club to an auditorium the size of the Lowry’s main theatre. It is a trick he has already pulled off on the small screen.

If you can’t catch his last two shows, make sure you allow him into your living room when the show returns later this year.

Written by Gareth Tidman in Manchester Evening News on 14th February 2015. Filed Under: A Room With A Stew, Reviews, Series 4, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
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