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Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle Series 1TV Review: Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle

BBC Two, Monday 16 March, 10pm

By ShinyMedia in TV Scoop Posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

Stewart Lee hasn’t been on telly for a long time, but I have fond memories of when he used to be a regular on our screens. I was probably too young for Fist of Fun on the radio, but I was just old enough for This Morning with Richard (Herring, of course) Not Judy – a comedy show which inexplicably found itself broadcast on Sunday mornings. We should bring that back, Sunday morning comedy. Anyway, Mr Lee – having penned a musical and spent years on the stand-up circuit – returned to TV last night. And he’s got a few things to get off his chest.
TV has struggled with the best way to showcase quality stand-ups for years now – should comics simply adapt to the medium and star in a sit-com, should they speak straight to the camera, should they have a live audience? Many formats have been tried with varying success, but to be honest I’m coming round to the belief that just pointing a camera at comedians while they do their thing is probably the best idea.

That’s what happens here, for the most part, with Stewart Lee performing a straight stand-up gig with just a few little sketches interspersed between the rants and ramblings. And that’s a great thing, and we need much more of it on our tellyboxes – comedians at the top of their game showing a much wider audience than would ever normally be achievable just how wonderful, uplifting, clever and intricate really great comedy can be.

I have a problem though… a lot of what Stewart Lee said irked me a little. In last night’s episode, Lee turned his admittedly sharp mind to books, and in particular toilet books and celebrity hardbacks. Perhaps it is just me, but isn’t it a little obvious to suggest that these genres are inherently crappy? Taking potshots at the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Chris Moyles felt pedestrian, and to suggest that he shouldn’t read Harry Potter because it’s intended for kids seems close-minded.

But – surprisingly for a comic not known for set-up-and-punchline jokes – he had some great one-liners: to say of Asher D’s book “it doesn’t do to over-perfect things” is a delightful backhanded compliment, and when Dan Brown writes the line “The famous man looked at the red cup” all the work’s been done for you.

Mixed feelings then: on one hand I love seeing stand-up on TV, especially when supported by veterans of the comedy circuit we don’t often see on the telly such as Tony Law and Simon Munnery, but the comedy itself didn’t suit me personally. But I can be heartened by the very fact that this show – along with the likes of We Need Answers and Cowards – has been commissioned at all.

Written by ShinyMedia in TV Scoop on 17th March 2009. Filed Under: Reviews, Series 1, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
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