”No one is equipped to review me” – Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle, written and performed by Stewart Lee himself, takes place in a small venue in London, and it’s basically a half hour stand-up set, cut back and forth between short sketches in the first season, and a hostile mock interview segment from the second onwards, with the interviewer played by Armando Iannucci in season two, and then Chris Morris in season three and four. Each episode has its own theme, with Lee exploring a particular topic in depth, questioning its meaning and often exposing the absurdity of it, from political matters, social issues, religious dogma, philosophical ideas, and the artistic integrity and different forms of stand-up comedy itself. Stewart Lee is a comedian who explains comedy to his audience, and through a combination of satire, role play and self-awareness, he tackles controversial subjects from an intellectual standpoint. Masterfully written, perfectly directed and excellently performed, Lee’s approach to stand-up is like a magician, not only letting the audience know that he is indeed performing a trick, but also giving them insight into how it’s done. Stewart Lee is my favourite comedian and I absolutely love the series, it’s edgy, interesting, sometimes surreal, often cringe worthy and most importantly, extremely funny, Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is a masterpiece!

I’m currently half-way through the fourth instalment in the series, the next episode is titled, ‘Death’, and I’m very excited to watch it! I loved the first series, but the decision to take out the sketches and replace them with the mock interview was a good one! They detracted too far away from the stand-up parts, which is why we’re here, and I always felt like I was just waiting for them to end to get back into the good stuff, but since the second season, it’s been the mock interviews instead, and they’re much better, they keep in line with the tone, and they don’t feel intrusive, it’s a perfect balance now. I was a big fan of Armando Iannucci, and I was sad to see him replaced in the third season, I didn’t think Chris Morris was a good, but having watched the first half of the fourth season, I think he’s doing just as good a job as Iannucci, maybe he’s got better since the third season, maybe it’s because I haven’t watched the series in a while, or maybe I’m just remembering it wrong, either way, he’s great in season four, and both Iannucci and Morris share a wonderful chemistry with Lee, their interactions are hilarious and these segments are essential to the pacing of the show.

Stewart Lee’s style of stand-up comedy is unlike any I’ve ever seen, it’s a completely new approach to the art form, and he’s able to take it to a new level in the ‘Comedy Vehicle’, he’s the comedian other comedians are scared of. Something he consistently does throughout the series is turn away from the audience, and address the camera directly, speaking to his wider audience, the people who aren’t there in the room with him, and I haven’t seen this technique used by anyone else. No one works a room like Stewart Lee, it’s so great to watch, he’s very interactive with the audience and he plays off their reactions, he doesn’t always want you to laugh, ‘’some of the jokes are traps’’ as he puts it. Most of the time he’s playing a character as well, a fictionalized version of himself, it is him though, but a lot of what he says on the surface level shouldn’t be taken too literally, he’s exaggerating his personality for comedic affect. There’s always a deeper message to Lee’s routines, and as he points out himself, you really have to be listening to understand it. As a fan, and as I’m sure with all his fans, there’s a sense that we’re in on the joke, what’s often funny is the fact that it isn’t funny, Stewart Lee’s not, ‘’a cultural bully from the Oxbridge Mafia’’, but he plays one, and he transitions in and out of character throughout all of his routines.

Stewart Lee certainly isn’t for everybody, his material is definitely an acquired taste and it’s very possible you won’t appreciate his style, you mind find that it tests your patience, and if that is the case this series could be a gruelling experience for you. As a fan, and I’ve been a fan ever since I saw The 41st Best Stand-Up Ever! On Comedy Central back when I used to watch cable TV, like I said, there’s a sense that we’re in on the joke with Lee, and the fact that what he’s doing is often pissing off thousands of people makes his material even more funny, he had thousands of Christians protesting against his musical, ‘’Jerry Springer : The Opera’’ in 2006 for fuck sake! You either get it, or you don’t, and that’s fine, but if you’re offended, you’re an idiot. Lee’s style can come across as very aggressive, he plays with the audience and they’re often made to feel very uncomfortable, the subject matter he’s using comes with a certain level of controversy, and if you aren’t accustomed to his style, there are moments that will probably make you feel awkward, just know it’s on purpose! Lee never loses the moral high ground, his material is meticulously written, and he approaches every issue with care, despite its evidently brutal nature, Stewart Lee is clearly a man with a strong ethical code, and he makes a lot of interesting, important and profound points throughout the series.

Stewart Lee has kept his integrity throughout his entire career, it’s evident he’s a perfectionist, or at least that’s how it comes across to me, this series is a true work of art! The way he writes is often like poetry, he isn’t just trying to make you laugh, he’s trying to make you think as well, but if your sense of humour is anything like mine, you will definitely fucking laugh, this is British comedy at its finest! There aren’t any cheap jokes here, these aren’t easy laughs, as Lee puts it, ‘’I can do jokes, it’s just not something that’s of interest to me’’, and as a 47 year old politically correct liberal, as he often defines himself, he’s pissing off all the right people! Lee’s material speaks to a niche audience, and although since the series aired on the BBC in 2009 he’s pushed into the mainstream, he’s still very much kept his core fans happy, often joking that after his fame has fizzled out and his mainstream audience has left, they’ll still be with him, ‘’That’s my dream, Wembley Stadium, 16,000 seats, just them, the Liberal Intelligentsia, no laughs all night’’, he jokes to a divided audience in the second episode of the fourth season, titled ‘’Islamophobia’’.

If it’s not obvious by now, I love this series, and I find Stewart Lee immensely entertaining, if you’re a fan of the usual routines we’re used to in the British comedy circuit, stuff like Jimmy Carr, Michael McIntyre, the young ‘Russell’ comics, James Corden, Mock the Week and shit like Top Gear, Stewart Lee is the opposite of all that, so you might want to avoid him, if not, you might discover a new favourite comedian, his style speaks to a niche, and you’ll either love it or hate it, I absolutely love it, and if you understand the use of satire and irony in his material, and the fact that his ‘contempt’ for the audience is fictional, you will too! At a time in society when tension is high, Stewart Lee is breathing life into an over saturated industry and opposing its often questionable ideals, he’s also proving that stand-up comedy is indeed an art form to be respected, his routines are beautifully constructed, socially poignant and extremely original, you’re watching a master at work. I love the series, and although Stewart Lee might not be the comedian Britain perhaps wanted, he’s definitely the comedian it needs! Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle is a modern masterpiece and I recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of alternative comedy.