Stewart Lee’s Carpet Remnant World has been on the road for months and I am sure it is far from as free-form as it appears.
Lee also makes much use of information that can be gleaned online, from the horrifically explicit and sick reactions of some Americans to the death of Osama Bin Laden to some equally robust criticism of his own comedy.
He gives as good as he gets, it should be admitted, with a bloke called Boyle and the many Russells from his line of work among those in the firing line.
More edgily, a huge amount of his act is devoted to critiquing the reaction of certain sections of the audience with building sarcasm. This is bolder than it sounds in print and becomes increasingly squirmingly hilarious as the set goes on and he deconstructs both his jokes and the reaction to them.
There is a lot of old-school vaudeville about Lee’s schtick: the gentle, in front of the cloth comedy of Morecambe and Wise pushed into brave new dimensions. It is the intelligence that he brings to the mechanics of making people laugh that make it a really fascinating experience.
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Bosco239, youtube
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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Robert Gavin, Twitter