Stewart Lee looks at the forgotten history of comedy in London - October 2007 Time Out - October 11th, 2007

I have recently been touring my new show, 41st Best Stand-Up Ever, before its current six week residency at the Soho theatre. The title reflects my position in a dubious Channel 4 rundown of stand-ups earlier this year. I was surprised to be placed at all, but the very existence of such a list does…

On Being Labelled 41st Best Standup - September 2007 Financial Times & The List - By Stewart Lee - September 9th, 2007

In March this year a cheap Channel 4 clip show, The 100 Best Stand-Up Comedians Ever, placed me at number 41, sandwiched in-between Johnny Vegas and Dara O’Brien. This was a hugely flattering position to find oneself in, if something of a tight squeeze. But unfortunately, it was a result of a public vote, and…

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: The greatest comedy event in the world - August 2007 The Independent - August 5th, 2007

Veteran stand-up Stewart Lee explains the lure of the Fringe, 10 comics, young and old, tell us whether the scene is all smiles. And, for the punchline, a concise history of ‘alternative comedy’Rich Hall (in hat, then clockwise), Sean Lock, Stewart Lee, Tameka Empson and Phill Jupitus Next year I’ll turn 40, and for my…

Standup Comedy On TV - August 2007 Glasgow Herald - August 1st, 2007

“Stand-up comedy does not work on the small screen”. It’s one of the glib truisms of television and its timorous gatekeepers, the executives, the commisioners, the controllers. Look around you. Yes, there are hundreds of stand-up comedians on television. But none of them are actually doing stand-up comedy. They are playing panel games, and hosting…

The Watersons’ Mighty River Of Song - May 2007 The Sunday Times - May 13th, 2007

The siblings Mike, Lal and Norma Waterson, and her husband Martin Carthy, kick-started the 60’s folk revival, and Martin and Norma’s daughter Eliza Carthy is the hidden engine of English Traditional music’s current resurgence. All participated in an augmented line-up of the Waterson clan, minus the late Lal, standing twelve strong along the lip of…

LONDON LIFES 15 – WALTER PIGEON - May 2007 What's On In London - By Stewart Lee - May 1st, 2007

Walter Pigeon is a pigeon and lives in the sky above Trafalgar Square. He is bitterly opposed to pigeon persecution, humans and London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone. Mankind! You attempt to destroy us! And yet still we thrive. Seven years ago your tiny, moustachioed mayor banned the sale of seed to drive us from your Trafalgar…