Since he was last on TV, Stewart Lee has caused controversy with ‘Jerry Springer: the Opera’ and racked up a string of Edinburgh Fringe successes, so why is the BBC’s ‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’ ‘pregnant with lack of meaning’ asks comedy critic Tim Out
His energy-sapping manifestation on Jimmy Carr’s ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’ aside, it is now more than a decade since the comedian Stewart Lee last appeared on TV. And it shows. The shambling, pie-eyed figure fronting ‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’ is unrecognisable from the svelte, dancing bum-imp of invalid mid-’90s show ‘Fist Of Fun’, remembered by this viewer as being essentially a sleek delivery funnel for hot sneers, and rightly forgotten by the public.
In the ten years since Lee’s exile from TV island, the assumed polymath has been the recipient of an Olivier award for his work as an opera director, published a novel full of unnecessary doing words, and become a mainstay of the Edinburgh Fringe, where his work is judged favourably alongside that of the finest poets, performance artists, dancers and playwrights of the entire world.
But Lee’s return to the most sophisticated of all contemporary arts media will require him to step up a few degrees if he is to compete with such personalities as Vernon Kay, Adrian Chiles and Jeremy Clarkson. It’s all very well being on speaking terms with an experimental Russian clown or a Haitian voodoo priest, but how will Lee fit in alongside the sort of people that win British Comedy Awards? He needs to realise that his life has just been a long prologue to his crowning achievement, a TV series with his name in the title.
But has he blown it? From where I am sitting, yes. And out of his stupid arse. Television has changed in the ten years since Lee was last lucky enough to appear inside one. Television comedy, in particular, has evolved to an incredible level of sophistication, with a cavalcade of repeated characters, motifs, catchphrases and situations flickering past the eye in a style borrowed from minimalists such as Philip Glass or Steve Reich. Compared to the rapid laugh dispersal mechanisms of contemporary TV comedy, Lee’s ponderous performance on his ‘Comedy Vehicle’ seems positively Neanderthal, suggesting a jungle-dwelling pygmy, struggling to coax notes out of an a clarinet that has fallen from a passing aircraft.
Apparently ill at ease with both speech and movement, Lee’s presence on screen creates a kind of negative energy, a black hole of vacancy, pregnant with lack of meaning. The show seems to have been created to punish the viewer for some imagined crime. Unfortunately for fat Lee, the test audience with whom I endured a screening last week shared my doubts.
‘I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say at all,’ said Lisa, aged 28, ‘but he seemed to be trying to communicate something. It was like in those old films where an animal – maybe a horse or a dog or a kangaroo or a dolphin – wants the man to follow him to the old mine, but the man can’t understand what it is the animal wants.’
‘There wasn’t enough swearing,’ said Alan, 28. ‘I like swear words, like fuck, piss and cunt, and it was just a man going on and on about nothing.’
Other test subjects seemed equally confused. ‘It was like a comedy. He was like a comedian,’ said Lyndsey, a 28-year-old Guardian Guide reader from Dulwich. ‘I mean, he had a suit on and he was speaking into a microphone and walking around, like Michael McIntyre does, but there were no jokes, just long sentences and these silences where he stared at objects and the floor.’
‘It made me laugh,’ added Callum, age 28, ‘but not for why you’d think it would. It was like being in a church and someone’s farted, and you’re not meant to laugh, so you do. It was laughter from embarrassment.’
Disappointingly for BBC executives, who have already placed assumed profits from the DVD sales of the show on a horse, many of the test subjects said that not only would they not watch the show when it was broadcast, but it had made them consider whether they would ever watch TV, or look at anything, again.
One elderly man emerged from the screening room clutching his torn-out eyes in his hands, squeezing them into a pulp like soft pickled eggs. ‘Did “Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle” make you angry, old man?,’ I asked him. ‘No, just bored,’ he said, ‘furiously bored, and then sad. Like when I was a baby and my mum walked out of the room. I just want things to go back to how they were before I saw it. But they never will. All I can see is his face. His stupid, smug face.’
Tim Out was talking to Stewart Lee
‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’ is on Mondays, 10pm, BBC2
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Aiden Hearn, Twitter
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Contrapuntal, Twitter
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Joe, Independent.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Sam Rooney, Youtube
Joycey, readytogo.net
Joycey, readytogo.net
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Cyberbloke, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Meninblack, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Fowkes81, Twitter
Fowkes81, Twitter
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Shit Crit, Twitter
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Hiewy, Youtube
Hiewy, Youtube
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Tres Ryan, Twitter
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
Borathigh5, Youtube
Borathigh5, Youtube
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Idrie, Youtube
Idrie, Youtube
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Z-factor, Twitter.
Z-factor, Twitter.
Visualiser1, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Mrdavisn01, Twitter
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Secretdeveloper, Youtube
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Clampdown59, Twitter.
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Jackmumf, Twitter
Jackmumf, Twitter
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
Keilloh, Twitter
Keilloh, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Mpf1947, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Funday’schild, youtube.
Funday’schild, youtube.
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Gabrielle, Chortle.com
Anamatronix, Youtube
Anamatronix, Youtube
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Danazawa, Youtube
Danazawa, Youtube
Chez, Chortle.com
Chez, Chortle.com
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Mearecate, Youtube
Wharto15, Twitter
Wharto15, Twitter
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Youtube
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
Anon, westhamonline.com
Anon, westhamonline.com
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Frankie Boyle, Comedian
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Dick Socrates, Twitter
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Tin Frog, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Microcuts 22, Twitter
Guest1001, Youtube
Guest1001, Youtube
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Kozzy06, Youtube
Kozzy06, Youtube
Bosco239, youtube
Bosco239, youtube
GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com