“Trust me – you can laugh at this joke. I’ve worked it all out,” stalwart comedian Stewart Lee informs us mid way through his new show, A Room With A Stew. Of course, he is right. Stewart Lee’s punishing touring schedule (pretty much a whole year with this show – Edinburgh excepted) arrives at the sold out Lowry theatre and he delivers over two hours of exceptional stand-up material.

Lee begins his act without any fuss. Almost rolling up his sleeves he begins with the words “Right, okay”. Essentially, A Room With A Stew allows Lee the enviable position of having a tour in which to hone and craft the next series of his TV presence Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, recording for BBC2 in the Autumn. And he is incredibly honest about this – like much of what he says onstage. It’s less work in progress and more an extended version of what we will see on TV later in the year.

Self described as a politically correct liberal Lee has always cleverly constructed the scaffolding required not only to deconstruct a topic but to demolish it without leaving a scratch on himself. The ingenuity and skill by which he is able to rise above the norm and gaze from above while at the same time smash it with a few sublimely chosen words is outstanding. Everything that he says is so steeped in irony and sarcasm it becomes difficult to separate the real Lee from his stage persona.

There is nothing hiding in his routine – he tells us at the outset what to expect and what topics will be addressed. In the first section he ponders whether there are enough Islamaphobic comedians working on the circuit. There aren’t many comedians who can refract this topic but Lee’s prism means that any offense taken would be a reflection on our own judgements rather than him being the vehicle. Later, when discussing national identity, he uses Greenland as a substitute country to vex lyrical about stereotypical attitudes. Although not one of the highlights of the show it is a great metaphor of how Stewart Lee is able to redirect anything that may be potentially offensive away from himself and rather puts the onus on us as to what we should find funny or not.

Lee’s comedy is all about context. He works within a framework of self constructed hypocrisy that has allowed him to create his own genre of stand-up comedy. His art of deconstruction is sublime. Here is a comedian who, with a few acerbic and cutting words, can crush anything in his way – intolerance in society, fellow comedians, populist comedy, his own audience and even himself. “I don’t want to do what other comedians do,” he tells us, “remembering their childhood in regional accents”. It is this vitriol and arrogance that makes Stewart Lee such a fresh comedian twenty-five years into his career.

Admittedly, Lee’s material lost some pace in the second half as perhaps the audience were expecting a scathing attack on UKIP but rather listened to more of a symbolic storytelling routine involving English flags and cat litter. But after being berated earlier about losing concentration over a joke that had fallen flat the audience were not going to make same mistake twice. The next series of multi award winning Comedy Vehicle is not going to disappoint.