It’s very tempting NOT to review Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (BBC2, Thursday), because the tirelessly self-analytical comedian does such a good job of doing that himself. He also told us in the first show of his fourth series: “No one is equipped to review me.” Maybe he’s right, but let’s give it a go, anyway.…
“Each shit series is like a suicide note,” Stewart Lee tells Chris Morris in the first episode of Comedy Vehicle series four; “or like someone that’s carried out a crime and written in blood on the wall, ‘Stop me before I do this again.’” The BBC clearly isn’t getting the message – notwithstanding Lee’s frequent…
Accused of intellectual snobbery, Stewart Lee hits back, pointing out that it’s a valid performance device, under the theatrical technique of Brechtian alienation. Thus explaining himself and reinforcing the criticism in one kamikaze blow. The friction is all part of the rules of engagement of his Comedy Vehicle, which are well-established now it enters its…
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is rather like Luther – it comes round every 2-3 years and is to the TV schedules what oxygen is to our bodies – an essential requirement. Often, the programme is like a comedy masterclass, with this first new episode, showing how to segue between light-hearted and serious topics, the latter…