YOU may have paid your money, but Stewart Lee isn’t going to go easy on you.
The greying comedian, who made a recent return to television screens with BBC Two’s Comedy Vehicle, cast an unforgiving eye over everything from coffee shop loyalty cards to Top Gear as he took to the stage of Malvern’s Forum Theatre on Saturday (January 30).
Eschewing the current trend for snappy one-liners, Lee painfully, and often hilariously, deconstructed every joke, point by point, simultaneously warning the audience worse was to come.
There was no attempt to get the crowd ‘on-side’ as he fantasised about Top Gear’s Richard Hammond being killed in the car crash which left him with brain injuries in 2006.
The skit’s tabloid reception was tackled head-on by Lee who explained that although his comments were ‘only a joke’, they coincidentally represented his true feelings about ‘the Hamster’.
Lee’s characteristic repetition was used to great effect in the closing segment where a throw-away line from a cider advert was plucked from obscurity and subjected to 20-minutes of ridicule.
During this prolonged invective against the advert, in which Lee pretended the line had in fact been a passed-down tradition of his own family, he left the stage and circled the theatre, bellowing at the audience from behind their heads.
The former comic partner of Richard Herring and writer/director behind Jerry Springer the Opera proved that compromise and dumbing-down did not need to go hand-in-hand with comedy.
If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One took no easy routes and was all the better for it.
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Cyberbloke, Twitter
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Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
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Sidsings000, Youtube
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Len Firewood, Twitter
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Emilyistrendy, Youtube
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Peter Ould, Youtube
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Shit Crit, Twitter
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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Robert Gavin, Twitter
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
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Al Murray, Comedian
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Slothy Matt, Twitter
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Leach Juice, Twitter
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Kozzy06, Youtube
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Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Pnethor, pne-online.com
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Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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A D Ward, Twitter
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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John Robins, Comedian
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Rudeness, Youtube
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Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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Fairy Pingu, Twitter
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Joycey, readytogo.net
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Foxfoxton, Youtube
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Lents, redandwhitekop.com
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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Sweeping Curves, Twitter
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Wharto15, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Mini-x2, readytogo.net
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Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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98rosjon, Twitter
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Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
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Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
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Rubyshoes, Twitter
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Jackmumf, Twitter
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Pudabaya, Twitter
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury
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World Without End, Twitter
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
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Danazawa, Youtube
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Jamespearse, Twitter
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Brighton Argus
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
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Etienne, Chortle.com
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Mpf1947, Youtube
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Secretdeveloper, Youtube