SCRAMBLED EGG
*****
Pretentious Writer.com
August 19, 2008

In the sweltering heat of the Edinburgh Stand, Stewart Lee plays mainly to a packed room full of people who are already predisposed to liking him. Nevertheless he insists, stand up comedy is the hardest job in the world. Sarcasm is this man’s backbone and in this years show, basically a rehearsal of old and new material in preparation for his forthcoming BBC2 series, he uses it to full effect. Turning away from the grander themes he has covered in the past like 11/9, political correctness and vomiting into the gaping anus of Christ, Lee turns his attention to ridiculing the painfully obscure, like American comedian Franklyn Ajaye and Chris Moyles second autobiography. In the case of Ajaye, Lee focuses on the comedian’s 1974 comedy album “I’m a Comedian, Seriously”, squeezing every last laugh out of the hilariously pompous cover and contradictory track listing, having never actually listened to the album, or indeed removed the original cellophane wrapping. In the case of Moyles, Lee contemplates the success of a book aimed at being a great toilet book that in Davina McCall’s opinion is butt-clenchingly honest.

If this show is any indication, and by it’s definition it is, then Lee’s TV show should be well worth watching.