The brilliance of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle - March 2009 The Times - By Caitlin Moran - March 21st, 2009

The received wisdom is that, as the northern hemisphere tilts nearer the Sun – causing the Earth to warm, buds to flush, and bees, once more, to fly in through open windows – that we watch less television. Britain, it is presumed, strolls out for a gigantic game of cricket around March 15, should the…

YOU THE JURY: JAMIE HALL & BEN FARRELL - March 2009 BroadcastNow.co.uk - By Jamie Hall and Ben Farrell - March 18th, 2009

Jamie Hall and Ben Farrell review the latest TV shows. Jamie Hall is group head of production at Lime Pictures. The format for Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is Lee performing stand-up material in front of an audience interspersed with sketches. It has a great set that looks like a cross between the Press Club and…

Comedy Vehicle Episode 1 - March 2009 Chortle.co.uk - By Steve Bennett - March 17th, 2009

In comedy circles, Stewart Lee has long been acknowledged as an influential, intelligent and principled stand-up almost beyond reproach. But it was nonetheless a courageous move for BBC Two to order a series from him that’s equally likely to alienate viewers as widen his niche. Given the debate raging about the BBC and public service…

Comedy Vehicle Episode 1 - March 2009 Heckler Spray - By Keith Emmerson - March 17th, 2009

Stewart Lee is to the world of comedy what pans are to a chef; pretty vital unless you want cold beans, and nobody wants cold beans. This man possesses razor sharp comic timing; somehow he can make any innocuous word comical. One small inflection or miniscule tweak of his expression conveys more than any amount…

Comedy Vehicle Episode 1 - March 2009 Lancashire Telegraph - By John Anson - March 17th, 2009

COMPARISONS can be a real problem. We all do it, reviewers particularly. There’s something in our make-up that makes us compelled to relate one thing to another from the past. Take Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle on BBC2 last night. Every preview, every interview has banged on about it being the “new Dave Allen show”. Even…

Comedy Vehicle Episode 1 - March 2009 The Independent - By Brian Viner - March 17th, 2009

Like history, and the kipper, comedy tends to repeat on you. For example, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle amounts to very little more than Lee doing his stand-up comedy act in front of an audience but with a camera pointing at him, and Dave Allen at Large, of blessed memory, amounted to the same thing. But…