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.

Attacking soft targets like Michael Macintyre or that Russell Howard. Yeah, I'm not wild about either, they're pretty mainstream and dull, but millions do like them, and pack their shows. I'm sure they don't care in the slightest about being mocked by SL.

Russell Howard cared! Heard him on a podcast talking about it, he was very upset as he idealised Lee.

We saw him a couple of months ago and the JK Rowling thing was that he emphasised that she 'pretended to be a man' to write the Strike novels..implying that it made her a hypocrite for her GC views.

@RoyalCorgi The Reunion on Radio 4 on Sunday was about Jerry Springer the Opera and Stewart Lee is still bruised over the fact that the protests against the show had cost him financially.

The programme will be rebroadcast tomorrow at 9am.

Heh!

Now that is funny! In a SL contra-textual kinda way... 😛

He is a peculiarly graceless man

You’re not alone. I really like his comedy too, despite not agreeing with him on this subject. And also thinking him weak for taking this position since I can’t imagine he believes it.

Chiding his audience for not keeping up is his act, not genuine contempt. As is his feeling sorry for himself as unappreciated and overlooked because nobody’s clever enough to get him.

Fine if you don’t like him, but thinking he despises his audience is to misunderstand his act.

I could just imagine Stewart Lee doing a bit on some ignorant comedian punching down at women, the same way he did about Richard Hammond and Clarkson. He'd be brilliant at it too.

I also thought b’brag was an utter tool. Ahhhh my radar is usually correct!

I completely forgot to mention this, but earlier this week Kevin Maher had a column in the Times in which he mentioned years ago that when he (Maher) was working as a waiter, he served Bragg, and he didn't leave a tip.

Thus confirming my view of Bragg as an absolute middle-class tosser.

I remember him at a CND rally back in the day and thinking he sounded like my drunk aunt at a family wedding, and his ‘mahn uv da peepul’ act was just that, an act. Like a poor man’s drag Woodie Guthrie…

The thing is though that comedy is optional and for fun

if I don’t understand the rules of which car has precedence at a roundabout, that’s on me

if I don’t get someone’s ‘comedy’, I’d say that’s on them (and possibly indicates that it may not be comedy)

@duc748 "the subtext always seems to be, if you don't think I'm funny, it's because you're not cool enough to 'get' me. And the whole slagging off his audience, and the Guardian-readers all lapping it up."

That's not the subtext! It's the text and the super text. And why it's funny.

Oh, and his big, big house in the country and trying to do his cowboy stuff in a fake US twang. Dreary as fuck. Oh, he may have sold that to help the striking miners.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7742301/Socialist-singer-Billy-Bragg-make-two-million-sale-seaside-mansion.html

I wonder if he’s ever played Glasgow? Best hecklers in the world. Brutal. Can’t see him going down too well (although of he does a rainbow act he might)

Is that a paddock at the bottom and a stable? Oh Lord can you just imagine him sitting there on a starry night, singing around a campfire pretending, to be a ye olde timer hobo riding the rails?

What a phoney baloney.

Is that him accidentally admitting that he thinks transwomen are men pretending to be women?

Putting yourself the that kind of looks like a cry for help to me

or like something you’d do for a bet

Putting yourself through it as an audience member I mean

He's always cultivated a Mark E Smith of comdedy act - the underdog who will perform what he wants and not pander to the audience. Thats why he talks about the audience not getting his material, and purposely creating uncomfortable atmosphere.

Its all an act because by any measure he is successful and hes giving his fan base exactly what they want.

Hes not changed. Its just that lots here have noticed how far some men will go to protect mens sexual rights, even when they harm women and children.

He would probably say "are you alright madam - don't worry only <x> minutes to go which he said to a friend of mine when we saw him at the Stand many moons ago at a WIP because she was on the front row looking storm faced and kept checking her watch.

Having seen him once, I’ve always got something better to spend my money on

he attempted to get the audience to cheer for the IRA

you’ll be surprised to learn that they didn’t

which rather ruined his callback later when he tried to sneer at us for cheering the IRA

it’s like he’s never met actual people, or is engaged in some complicated elongated act of self harm

the whole thing was bizarre and a bit boring and not an experience I’m keen to repeat!

I’ve never found him funny. Too “I’m more clever than you”.

And I got pissed off with him complaining about how poor he was when his company accounts showed £1 million in the bank.

People laughed when Stewart said he was going to be a comedian....they're not laughing now

Like marmite but even more salty

he attempted to get the audience to cheer for the IRA

Henning Wehn had an entire room singing a Nazi song. Anyway, even Nigel Farage has endorsed "the lads", so they can't be that bad.

Just thinking, is this the "IRA were decent British terrorists" bit ? Which is followed by the punchline "they didn't want to be British, of course" ?

I wonder this, too. He's had a long career so probably has at some point, but I'm always entertained when a comedian announces a UK tour and carefully avoids the west of Scotland 😂

Much more interested in his split with BC (how frivolous and vapid of me, I suppose!). Her star seems to be on the rise since Taskmaster, and now he's rumoured to be with her 30something clone. Not a good look tbh, but then these London media types never seem to bother with scruples.