SHEFFIELD was privileged to have been one of only a handful of places for comic Stewart Lee to test out his new material when he arrived in the city as part of the Grin Up North festival.
And the taster of the Vegetable Stew served up to the crowd at City Hall certainly seemed to go down well.
Kicking off proceedings was his friend and fellow comedian Simon Munnery – aka Alan Parker, Urban Warrior – who also supported him on the If You Prefer A Milder Comedian…tour earlier this year.
The set met with a good reaction, from his conspiracy theories about the D(H)SS (“they dropped the H, how long before they lose the D?) and his observations on how society could change for the better (“one woman, two votes, because a lot of women have trouble making their minds up”).
Lee’s show followed a format that fans will be all the more familiar with now if they have read his new book ‘How I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and Death of a Stand-up Comedian’ which sets out to dissect a comedy performance in all its glory.
Some might argue the technique backfires- that jokes stripped down and explained lose their humour – but it works, not least because it’s so unlike anything else out there.
And so right from the start you’re told they’ll be about 20 minutes of material about charity, 20 minutes about politics, and so on – with the acoustic guitar accompanying him on stage explained away as the grand finale to the show.
The repetition and references to little notes – whether they be scrawled on scraps of paper folded up in his pocket or on his hand using a felt tip bought from a sales assistant in WH Smith on Fargate who was somewhere in the crowd that night – which are a regular feature in his stand-up were both there, providing a helping hand as he drummed the characters and the themes into the audience with complete
tirelessness as the laughter built around him.
Topics veered from his granddad’s crisp obsession to Adrian Chiles’ “grand gesture” of a beard shave for Sport Relief (he was being ironic of course), and an elaborate tale about time spent with David Cameron while they were both students at Oxford University – which
obviously turned out to be entirely made-up.
It was the posh crowd from the university’s Bullingdon Club – made up of the likes of Cameron and Boris Johnson in its day – that came in for a ribbing in Lee’s finale song, belted out whilst perched on a stool playing his guitar in the spotlight, his moody singer-song writer presentation hilariously at odds with the content.
Leaving the stage and executing a little jog through the auditorium out of the door, he promised to be back soon – and it was clear the crowd can’t wait.
Jackmumf, Twitter
Jackmumf, Twitter
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Idrie, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Funday’schild, youtube.
Funday’schild, youtube.
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Kozzy06, Youtube
Kozzy06, Youtube
Chez, Chortle.com
Chez, Chortle.com
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Z-factor, Twitter.
Z-factor, Twitter.
Shit Crit, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Youtube
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
Fowkes81, Twitter
Fowkes81, Twitter
Guest1001, Youtube
Guest1001, Youtube
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Hiewy, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Danazawa, Youtube
Danazawa, Youtube
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Keilloh, Twitter
Keilloh, Twitter
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Borathigh5, Youtube
Borathigh5, Youtube
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Visualiser1, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Mearecate, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Anamatronix, Youtube
Anamatronix, Youtube
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Mpf1947, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Meninblack, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Joycey, readytogo.net
Joycey, readytogo.net
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
Anon, westhamonline.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com