The Imagined Village – Bending The Dark - May 2012 May 14th, 2012

Simon Emmerson’s Imagined Village seek a rapprochement between the English folk tradition and post-colonial world music. Their third album finds sitars and tablas alongside the pedigree vocals of Jackie Oates and an especially majestic Eliza Carthy, and Get Kalsi and The Guvna mix devotional sincerity with an arch meditational lounge muzak. Perhaps Bending The Dark’s…

Carpet Remnant World – Brighton - May 2012 Squeamish Bikini - By Chris Bell - May 14th, 2012

“Be careful, Brighton. Some of the jokes are traps.” Watching Stewart Lee isn’t like going to see any other stand-up. The audience cannot sit back and expect to be entertained, oh no, they’re made to work hard – and have to be on guard at all times. No lazy, easy observational jokes here, save for…

The Two Sides Of Stewart Lee - May 2012 Aberdeen Evening News - May 14th, 2012

Stewart Lee at the Octagon Theatre, Yeovil - May 2012 Yeovil People - By IconoGlast - May 9th, 2012

As an antithesis to modern comedy where we are force fed floppy haired fops (who charge £31 quid just to watch their work in progress shows); manic young upstarts called Russell (who can be seen endlessly regurgitating their material in snippets on Mock the Week); and those whose aim is simply to shock (otherwise known…

Review: Stewart Lee – Bristol - May 2012 Inter:Mission - By Fawzi Abou-Chahine - May 8th, 2012

The title of Stewart Lee’s latest show – Carpet Remnant World – is anything but easy to comprehend. He loosely ties it very carefully as a punch line towards the finale. In this manner, he demonstrates his style of comedy, taking a form which is subtle in its reference to a future joke you’ve not…

Live comedy review: Stewart Lee – Bristol Hippodrome - May 2012 Lost In Music - By Steve Harnell - May 7th, 2012

IF Stewart Lee’s latest stand-up show is essentially one giant confidence trick then at least he’s totally upfront about it. “I have nothing…” he deadpans at various intervals to describe his apparent lack of material, thanks to a life that now consists solely of travelling around the UK’s motorway network by night on an extensive…