Stewart Lee might have been beaten by Michael McIntyre in the Best Stand-up category at Saturday’s British Comedy Awards but there are plenty of comedy buffs flocking to Lee’s current show who beg to differ.
While McIntyre is the arena-packing people’s punster, Lee is the art-house comedian’s comedian, admired as much for his craft, poise and intelligence as his quips.
In this supremely accomplished set, however, Lee does not feel a million miles away from McIntyre. Both are essentially observational entertainers but where the slick-suited superstar tickles life’s trivia, the tight-jacketed cult joker goes for the jugular, brilliantly unpicking the vogue for offensive humour and the way capitalism tramples on people’s memories.
If an attack on Frankie Boyle’s shock-jock mentality is an effective warm-up, the real venom is saved for Lee’s already notorious assault on Top Gear’s bully-boy blokeism. Out of context his controversial wish that Richard Hammond had died gruesomely in his 2006 dragster accident is tasteless. In the context of exploring limits of taste it is a superb piece of Swiftian satire.
This high point is not quite matched by an excellent extended riff on advertising’s habit of soiling great music but there is still a sting in the tale as Lee closes with a surprisingly well-sung song.
A masterclass in stand-up being more than just a bag of gags and a top gear performance from this driven man.
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Richard Herring, Comedian
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James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
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GRTak, finalgear.com
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Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Peter Ould, Twitter
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Anon, BBC Complaints Log
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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John Robins, Comedian
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Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
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Stuart, Chortle
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
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Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
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Brighton Argus
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World Without End, Twitter
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Tin Frog, Twitter
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
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Al Murray, Comedian
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Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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FBC, finalgear.com
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com