What has Stewart Lee done?

[concernedfriend500]

I see lots of people on Twitter are slagging off Stewart Lee because he listed a lot of non-woke folk like Graham Linehan in his "pedal bin" of people he doesn't like. What is his public stance on the Trans Rights campaign though? I've not heard/read anything but I've probably missed it.

I think it's pretty clear what his stance is, given his stupid list. I don't know why anyone cares what he thinks though. He's a washed up unfunny comedian.

He's published a weird, fairly childish and VERY long list on his website about his likes and dislikes in 2021.

Towards the end there's a section called "On the pedestal" and another called "In the pedal bin". On a pedestal are (amoungst others) Jolyon Maugham, Ash Sarker and Owen Jones. In the pedal bin are (amoungst others) Dave Chapelle, Graham Linehan, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese and Nimco Ali (who tirelessly campaigns against VAWG).

It's all but silly, but it's clear he's picked a side so people are responding.

God, is he reliving his schooldays or something ?

How embarrassing

I suspect even Jolyon Maugham’s own family don’t like him much.

He's not officially on Twitter I don't think but his list suggests that he's certainly been spending quite a bit of time on it even if incognito.

He's randomly fired off a list of 'good and bad' people based on nothing expect his own perception. He may not have said anything publicly about trans issues but his list clearly shows that he must be of the TWAW persuasion.

I don't really care about his list although I imagine it's hurtful for people who have never had any interaction with him to be publicly rounded up in this way. He holds a huge amount of kudos as right-thinker and to his fans he's a kind of deity. As such they are likely to adopt their master's views about those individuals without any further thought as to whether it's warranted.

I have laughed at some of his routines in the past but he also gives me strong vibes that he would hate me in RL and that puts me off... He might be lovely and it might be an act but he's not someone I spend any time seeking out.

Odd choice at this point, given the way the public mood appears to be trending.

I've always loved Stewart Lee but I'm not surprised by this unfortunately.

He's worked with and was mates with Glinner so it can only be the trans thing, especially in light of who else he's named.

I wonder how this sits with Brigid Christies work campaigning against FGM and the TRA attacks on campaigners

@lucillelarusso

I wonder how this sits with Brigid Christies work campaigning against FGM and the TRA attacks on campaigners

Yes. It's all bit awkward. Also not nice for her as she's on Twitter and he's not.

Didn't Brigid Christie also recently say something along the lines of "just let them go to the fucking toilet"? Completely minimising the whole debate.

I'm a former Stewart Lee cackling sycophant, so this feels a bit poo. I'm not surprised, though.

@AnyFucker

God, is he reliving his schooldays or something ?

How embarrassing

Exactly.

Most people grow out of making lists of good and bad people in their Burn Books by the time they leave their teens.

Apparently not everyone manages that, though.

What a petty, nasty thing to do.

Should it not be pedal stool?

I wonder how this sits with Brigid Christies work campaigning against FGM and the TRA attacks on campaigners

I didn’t know about that. And he’s put Nimco Ali on his shit list? That seems somewhere between tasteless and bonkers.

Is there any chance this is some clever-clever ironic thing and he means the exact opposite of what he’s saying? Who the hell puts Owen Jones on a pedestal? Or Ash Sarkar? or Jolyon Maugham? Or… well, you get my point.

I've seen him 4 times. Always had a good time. However, I'm not inclined to go again.

@PatsArrow

He's published a weird, fairly childish and VERY long list on his website about his likes and dislikes in 2021.

Towards the end there's a section called "On the pedestal" and another called "In the pedal bin". On a pedestal are (amoungst others) Jolyon Maugham, Ash Sarker and Owen Jones. In the pedal bin are (amoungst others) Dave Chapelle, Graham Linehan, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese and Nimco Ali (who tirelessly campaigns against VAWG).

It's all but silly, but it's clear he's picked a side so people are responding.

Nimco Ali the FGM campaigner?!

What the actual hell?

Yep Purgatory. Insane isn't it.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/oct/20/bridget-christie-flashers-penis-horrible-menopause-comedy-female-anger-comedian

'Gervais, meanwhile, receives her ire for his efforts to be an “edgy” comedian, and his use of transphobic tropes (“I’ve always identified as a chimp,” he says in Humanity). “It’s the same joke over and over again,” she says. “Or some joke about toilets. Just let people go to the fucking toilet.”'

I mean, I agree that the snarky 'identify as...' is a wee bit tired, but the toilet thing matters.

The only interesting bit on this is it sounds a lot like the joke out of Graeme Linehams IT Crowd about the pedestal/pedal stool.

I went to see him a few years ago. The whole act was a long boring story about something horrible Richard Hammond did to another pupil when they were at school together. No jokes or punchlines, just a long repetitive story.
Then at the end he said it wasn’t true. He wasn’t that the same school as Richard Hammond, he didn’t know him, he just didn’t like him on Top Gear so he made up something negative about him because he could.

What a waste of an evening.

Stewart Lee has been woke bro for a while hasn’t he? There’s been previous MN threads about him.

I’ve never liked his style - too much “look how clever I am and look how stupid you are” in his long unfunny rambles.

Yeah Bridget, just let people go to the fucking toilet

Someone once said that he doesn't make joke he just says things his audience will agree with, slowly, and once I heard that I stopped enjoying him. He is being a complete twat here, chumming up with his Oxford bully boys mates to oppress feminists, it's pretty shameful.

I saw him live once, and left with the sensation that he had just convinced me to pay him to stand there while he sneered at me and everyone else there for not meeting his exacting standards.

Not my idea of a fun night out. Much as I get that to comedians, he’s revered because of his ability to dissect and skewer how comedy happens, and that the way he plays with how people react, our preconceptions etc is masterful, it’s all just so fundamentally mean spirited, like the bully who says “I was just joking, can’t you take a joke?”

All of a piece with dividing people into goodies and baddies, though I expect that he believes he’s doing it on some meta level, way above the ken of normies like me.

@Clymene

Yeah Bridget, just let people go to the fucking toilet

It's a shame because it shows she has elevated into the group of women who KNOW they will never go to prison or be housed in a secure mental health facility and that she doesn't give a fuck about women in that situation. Like so many rich 'woke' women - the issues will not effect them so they chose not to engage or care. This is why I have so much respect for JKR, she has no chance of being personally effected but cares about those who are. A true feminist, whilst BC wants to shift books and sell tickets, JK actually risks income to stand up and be counted.

I've seen him on stage a few times (a friend is, or was, a fan) and, ironically, given who he includes in his shit list, there's something very Father Ted's Golden Cleric speech about both this list and the sections of his stage routines where he goes off on one about other (far more successful) comedians. In his most recent tour, which I saw, he said people who opposed mixed sex toilets were thick, didn't go to university, or something along those lines. Looking at comments from female former fans on Twitter it seems he's said other things on this in stage shows too, though I don't know what.