Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle isn’t your traditional Saturday night TV comedy. There’s no sparkly suits, dazzling white grins or jazz hands here. No smell of the crowd or roar of the greasepaint.
Instead, there’s a fat, depressed Todd Carty lookalike (his description, honest) mumbling into a microphone in a working men’s club.
This weekend’s comeback episode was a case in point. Ostensibly, the theme of Lee’s routine was the pernicious, pervasive effects of the internet and how it’s created a spoilt generation who want everything easy and have no imagination.
Doesn’t sound like a big bundle of ROFLs, perhaps, but by the time Lee had turned it into a searing theses, full of digressions, rants, repetitions and asides, it was a comedy masterclass.
There was a masterful takedown of Twitter, which Lee called “a state surveillance agency staffed by gullible volunteers, a Stasi for the Angry Birds generation”. He described a Northumbrian village called Shilbottle and how road sign vandals turned it into “Shitbottle, twinned with Bouteille Du Merde, France and Scheisse Flasche, Germany”.
He riffed on two other UK towns with pooey names, Crapstone and Shitterton, at one point indulging in a long, mimed phone argument sbout manure with an imaginary adversary. He gave Vodafone a kicking, reminisced about Big D peanuts and conjured up a retro web where AltaVista, MySpace and AskJeeves were the major players. Halcyon days.
These stand-up segments were interspersed by downbeat chats with satirist and “hostile interrogator” Chris Morris, who deconstructed Lee’s schtick, exposed his hypocrisy and chipped away at his confidence.
It was genuinely exciting to see the creator of The Day Today, Nathan Barley and Brass Eye back on our screens, even in a low-key cameo.
Lee’s stand-up style has no truck with mediocrity, faux-mateyness, cliché or easy guffaws. Indeed, he attacks crowd-pleasers like Michael McIntyre, Russell Howard and Lee Mack on a regular basis, which must make things a bit awkz on the comedy circuit.
Rather than settling for “is it just me or…?” cosy observation, Lee uses his incisive intelligence to delve into topics with an analytical eye, instantly unpick his own jokes and lambast the complacent audience for being part of the problem, not part of the solution. When he got a ripple of claps, he called it “the sound of the middle class applauding their own guilt”.
The result is a routine that not only makes you slide off the sofa in hysterics but grips with its hypnotic intensity and leaves you feeling improved, not just entertained. Comedy that makes you stop and think, as well as snort with mirth. A notion that Lee himself would doubtless rip to shreds but it’s true and it makes Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle essential viewing. If you don’t believe me, you can sh*t in a bottle.
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
Anon, dontstartmeoff.com
FBC, finalgear.com
FBC, finalgear.com
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
Tweeter Kyriakou, Twitter
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Cojones2, Guardian.co.uk
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Henry Howard Fun, Twitter
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Shane, Beverley, Dailymail.co.uk
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Clampdown59, Twitter.
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Karen Laidlaw, Edfringe. com.
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Z-factor, Twitter.
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12dgdgdgdgdgdg, Youtube
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Joe, Independent.co.uk
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Microcuts 22, Twitter
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NevW47479, UKTV.co.uk
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Alex Quarmby, Edfringe.com
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Deepbass, Guardian.co.uk
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DVDhth's grandparents, Twitter
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Dahoum, Guardian.co.uk
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Shit Crit, Twitter
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Borathigh5, Youtube
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Meninblack, Twitter
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Someoneyoudon'tknow, Chortle.com
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Whoiscuriousgeorge, Youtube
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Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph
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Mrdavisn01, Twitter
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Dick Socrates, Twitter
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Tres Ryan, Twitter
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Anon, westhamonline.com
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Hiewy, Youtube
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Contrapuntal, Twitter
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Sam Rooney, Youtube
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Aiden Hearn, Twitter
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Frankie Boyle, Comedian
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Bosco239, youtube
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Chez, Chortle.com
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Guest, Dontstartmeoff.com
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Johnny Kitkat, dontstartmeoff.com
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
Lee Mack, Mack The Life, 2012
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Patrick Kavanagh, Guardian.co.uk
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Cyberbloke, Twitter
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Mearecate, Youtube
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Esme Folley, Actress, cellist, Twitter
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
Iain, eatenbymissionaries
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Nicetime, Guardian.co.uk
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Peter Ould, Youtube
Peter Ould, Twitter
Peter Ould, Twitter
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Gmanthedemon, bbc.co.uk
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Anamatronix, Youtube
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Anonymous, The Northfield Patriot
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Wharto15, Twitter
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Idrie, Youtube
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Lancethrustworthy, Youtube
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Funday’schild, youtube.
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Fowkes81, Twitter
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Jackmumf, Twitter
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Maninabananasuit, Guardian.co.uk
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A D Ward, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
Liam Travitt, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Tweeterkiryakou, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
Zombie Hamster, Twitter
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Gabrielle, Chortle.com
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Ishamayura Byrd, Twitter
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Secretdeveloper, Youtube
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Guest1001, Youtube
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Joycey, readytogo.net
Mpf1947, Youtube
Mpf1947, Youtube
World Without End, Twitter
World Without End, Twitter
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Carla, St Albans, Dailymail.co.uk
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Mini-x2, readytogo.net
Leach Juice, Twitter
Leach Juice, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Fairy Pingu, Twitter
Etienne, Chortle.com
Etienne, Chortle.com
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Rowing Rob, Guardian.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Aaron, comedy.co.uk
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Dave Wilson, Chortle.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Pudabaya, beexcellenttoeachother.com
Carcrazychica, Youtube
Carcrazychica, Youtube
John Robins, Comedian
John Robins, Comedian
Sidsings000, Youtube
Sidsings000, Youtube
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Neva2busy, dontstartmeoff.com
Brighton Argus
Brighton Argus
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Emilyistrendy, Youtube
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Lents, redandwhitekop.com
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Genghis McKahn, Guardian.co.uk
Len Firewood, Twitter
Len Firewood, Twitter
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Coxy, Dontstartmeoff.com
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Sweeping Curves, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
Slothy Matt, Twitter
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
James Dellingpole, Daily Telegraph
Jamespearse, Twitter
Jamespearse, Twitter
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Yukio Mishima, dontstartmeoff.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Pnethor, pne-online.com
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Neolab, Guardian.co.uk
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Lucinda Locketts, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Rubyshoes, Twitter
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Anonymous, don'tstartmeoff.com
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Syhr, breakbeat.co.uk
Al Murray, Comedian
Al Murray, Comedian
Peter Fears, Twitter
Peter Fears, Twitter
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Gwaites, Digitalspy
Foxfoxton, Youtube
Foxfoxton, Youtube
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
General Lurko 36, Guardian.co.uk
Pudabaya, Twitter
Pudabaya, Twitter
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Danazawa, Youtube
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Cabluigi, Guardian.co.uk
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Anon, BBC Complaints Log
Tokyofist, Youtube
Tokyofist, Youtube
Richard Herring, Comedian
Richard Herring, Comedian
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
Birmingham Sunday Mercury
GRTak, finalgear.com
GRTak, finalgear.com
Tin Frog, Twitter
Tin Frog, Twitter
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Keilloh, Twitter
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Bobby Bhoy, Twitter
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Kozzy06, Youtube
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Spanner, dontstartmeoff.com
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
Stokeylitfest, Twitter
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Meanstreetelite, Peoplesrepublicofcork
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Pirate Crocodile, Twitter
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Joskins, Leeds Music Forum
Visualiser1, Twitter
Visualiser1, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
Horatio Melvin, Twitter
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Alwyn, Digiguide.tv
98rosjon, Twitter
98rosjon, Twitter
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Brendon, Vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Robert Gavin, Twitter
Stuart, Chortle
Stuart, Chortle
Rudeness, Youtube
Rudeness, Youtube