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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

What has Stewart Lee done?

445 replies

concernedfriend500 · 04/01/2022 08:49

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.

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ScreamingMeMe · 17/08/2023 12:37

RoyalCorgi · 17/08/2023 10:03

Am I the only person who doesn't get this?

I don't understand a word!

Pudmyboy · 17/08/2023 12:42

vera99 · 17/08/2023 11:49

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

😂

SerendipityJane · 17/08/2023 12:44

I wonder if he’s ever played Glasgow?

Quite a few of his DVDs (and the Alternative Comedy Experience) were shot in The Stand.

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 12:47

Absolutely pissing myself at the person who went to his show and 100% missed the point of his act. He even has a segment where he talks about people like you who don't get it. You must have been sitting there in deep, deep confusion 😂

He is not...literal. You do need a bit of nous to get him, and in that, he's not for everyone. When I went the other day, not a single person walked out, btw, and I didn't see or hear a single person tutting either. But whatever. You paid!

SerendipityJane · 17/08/2023 12:52

Absolutely pissing myself at the person who went to his show and 100% missed the point of his act

That would be peoples friends who came by mistake ....

"I hate Stewart Lee. He resides at the apex of all that is patience testing wank."

CurlewKate · 17/08/2023 12:58

I do think saying that he wanted his audience to cheer for the IRA without context is a bit shit, to be honest.

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 17/08/2023 13:00

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 12:47

Absolutely pissing myself at the person who went to his show and 100% missed the point of his act. He even has a segment where he talks about people like you who don't get it. You must have been sitting there in deep, deep confusion 😂

He is not...literal. You do need a bit of nous to get him, and in that, he's not for everyone. When I went the other day, not a single person walked out, btw, and I didn't see or hear a single person tutting either. But whatever. You paid!

Yep, I think this post encapsulates what I don’t like about him (in addition to his rank hypocrisy)

the feeling of faux superiority enjoyed by people who ‘have the required nous to get him’

Ginmonkeyagain · 17/08/2023 13:04

Mr Monkey and his son are very keen on SL. Me not so much. I actually went home during the interval of one of his shows as I was very bored.

I get his whole mocking your audience thing, I just don't find it very interesting or funny.

SequinsandStiIettos · 17/08/2023 13:06

Reviews for his show (and this was Bing ffs!)
Stewart Lee review – underpowered show still stronger than most | Comedy | The Guardian
Stewart Lee: Basic Lee review: the leftfield comedy legend returns (timeout.com)

All reviews for the same show on his website
Basic Lee : Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever!
With the prices of tickets and so much to choose from in Edinburgh, I don't understand anyone buying expensive tickets without finding out about the current show. You can always take a punt on Free Fringe acts because they're free/pay what you can or buy a ticket for Pleasance's Fast Fringe (12 acts do 5 minutes each) so you can work out who you like. But otherwise you risk losing out ££.
Seeing Stewart Lee for the first time - and an afternoon gig at that - without knowing what he does, is going to be bloody hard-going, especially if it's deconstructing jokes/elements of stand up.

The first time I saw him live, I hated it, hated the repetition, hated him. Other half was pissing himself at how far he pushed it. And probably laughed at my utter confusion/vitriol over an hour I wouldn't get back.
Had I been on social media Stewart Lee probably would have put my venting on his website. See below.
Online Critiques : Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever!

He is polarising. He is also doing a well-worn schtick: the bitter, twisted curmudgeon. Now - as with his erstwhile partner Herring - if you need to be told it's just a persona not the real him and he's convincing you too much, maybe he's closer to his persona than he'd like to admit Wink
Similarly, if you need someone else to explain your joke/why you are funny, then maybe it's not that funny.
His act is gutsy though. The tensions in the room have put me on edge in the past (yes, I saw him many times after that first time as my partner and I used to pick shows each).

On BBC iplayer you can see Tornado/Snowflake. I watched them both and laughed often but also went "No, you can stop it now!" to my partner's amusement. I get what Stewart Lee does but sometimes want to kick him. Which could well still be the reaction he's going for.

He described his hero Ted Chippington as "a mixture of surrealism and insolent provocation and uncompromising boredom." To a large extent, he's adopted that approach including contempt (or pretend contempt) for jokes/observational comedy/anything which constitutes selling-out/pandering or is popular (at least this is part of the persona) and takes it as far as he can go.

This makes him an acquired taste/comedian's comedian/cult comedian change the consonant I do laugh out loud at the "See, I can do jokes, I just choose not to" -it's funny cos it's true- I also find some of it tedious/wearisome at times.
But his short run at the Fringe is sold out and I doubt he has any fucks to give about being slated on here. Just more quotes for the website. I'm sure he speaks very highly of us (he doesn't).

Shame about him and Bridget Christie though. I liked The Change on Channel 4, liked her stand up and her book, liked her on Taskmaster. Admire and respect her for telling tabloids she wasn't going to talk about Stew and never has.
As for him being in his fifties with someone in her thirties, meh, tale as old as time. He had said people would think Omid Djalili in The Change was him. Whether that means she left him irl or that he didn't do chores or that he just predicted human tattle, don't know, but if they separated two years ago both have the right to privacy/right to move on/right to protect their kids.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/sep/28/stewart-lee-review-underpowered-show-still-stronger-than-most

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:07

the feeling of faux superiority enjoyed by people who ‘have the required nous to get him’

But he tells you it! Right at the top of the show! The thought of someone sitting there thinking he literally hates his audience is sending me tbh.

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:09

Just to say, this thread is only going to be used as material for future shows, you know that, right? He feckin' hates Mumsnet

ScreamingMeMe · 17/08/2023 13:09

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 17/08/2023 13:00

Yep, I think this post encapsulates what I don’t like about him (in addition to his rank hypocrisy)

the feeling of faux superiority enjoyed by people who ‘have the required nous to get him’

Quite. I'm imagining an audience full of chin strokers chuckling softly and murmuring "Yes, quite right." to each other.

Anyway, going back a few pages, one of his actual fans couldn't even explain one of his 'jokes' to us.

SerendipityJane · 17/08/2023 13:09

CurlewKate · 17/08/2023 12:58

I do think saying that he wanted his audience to cheer for the IRA without context is a bit shit, to be honest.

Personally, I think his "Context" episode of Stewart Lees Comedy Vehicle is one of the best written pieces of stand up I've seen put into 30 minutes.

Not only is it funny (for some values of funny), it's painfully accurate and should be shown to anyone who wants to use language to communicate, rather than to pontificate.

ScreamingMeMe · 17/08/2023 13:09

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:09

Just to say, this thread is only going to be used as material for future shows, you know that, right? He feckin' hates Mumsnet

Couldn't give a tiny shite.

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:13

"Anyway, going back a few pages, one of his actual fans couldn't even explain one of his 'jokes' to us."

I think there might be two other SL enjoyers in this thread: you couldn't make this comment up, right?

SerendipityJane · 17/08/2023 13:13

Quite. I'm imagining an audience full of chin strokers chuckling softly and murmuring "Yes, quite right." to each other.

Which he points out when he calls them sycophants.

This thread is basically acting out all the hostile interviewer interludes from SLCV - which is in and of itself hilarious.

Wolfparty · 17/08/2023 13:18

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:13

"Anyway, going back a few pages, one of his actual fans couldn't even explain one of his 'jokes' to us."

I think there might be two other SL enjoyers in this thread: you couldn't make this comment up, right?

It does really sound like something he would say 😂

MavisMcMinty · 17/08/2023 13:27

I have giggled uncontrollably at his column in the Graun/Observer, and on my last iPad I bookmarked a clip of his Brexit joke to cheer myself up when I needed it - “people say that only racists voted for Brexit. It wasn’t JUST racists. It was cunts.” It’s the timing. And of course the sentiment.

SequinsandStiIettos · 17/08/2023 13:28

He'd rip me a new one for my other post trying to explain him Grin
To the pp who has seen Basic Lee, what does he say about Herring that has a reviewer think there's no love lost there? (Misinterpreted?)
I get his whole mocking your audience thing, I just don't find it very interesting or funny
Depends on context. Whether it's John Robertson shouting at his (He does Dark Room and I find him amusing) or insult comedy or Nick Helm pretending the audience are ruining his gig, the point is that it is planned/scripted and the audience usually know what they've signed up for.

Sbishka · 17/08/2023 13:33

SequinsandStilettos, he talks about Richard Herring's podcast. It's clearly affectionate. Something about listening to him talk about moving stones. If you've ever listened to RHLTSP, it's very accurate 😂

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 17/08/2023 13:34

I think he's funny.

BernardBlacksMolluscs · 17/08/2023 13:37

It just seems like comedy by a deeply insecure person who needs to assert a feeling of superiority over others to make himself feel better for people who are deeply insecure and need to assert a feeling of superiority over others to make themselves feel better

it’s not for me in summary

I’m glad other people enjoy it, I’m all for things that make the world a happier place

but even when fans try to explain it (because everyone knows the best comedy is the comedy you have to explain), even the explanation just sounds a bit sad to me

and I also think he’s a self serving hypocrite for the way he talks about women who’d like a bit of privacy, safety and dignity

bishophaha · 17/08/2023 13:39

I also identity as a Stew enjoyer. I think he's disappointing in his misogynist views but tbh that's par for the course with most blokes ime! Think I've already posted on this thread so not going to repeat myself.

Repeat myself. I'm not going to repeat myself. You can't repeat yourself, these days. I'm not going to repeat myself for ten solid minutes.

RadishAndTwiglet · 17/08/2023 13:42

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.

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

It's a very unattractive quality in a person. I put James O'Brien firmly in the same category. Odious, the pair of them.