Stewart Lee: If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One (2010) Reviews

• Daringly structured, acerbic and confrontational but yet it still works

  bob the moo2011-10-20

  There is a trend now in comedy for bigger stadium gigs rather than smaller but longer tours and for the DVD to be out in time for Christmas. Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and the like have gotten rich off of it and fair play to them. The television schedules is also significantly fuller of comedy panel shows than it once was – thanks to the success of them as they come over from Radio 4. Coincidentally I had just been listening to Danny Baker and Bill Bailey discussing the very topic a few days before I watched this show. Certainly now there is a trend for the quick one liner and for every single thing that happens to be subject to a quip and young comedians nudge each other off the spotlight. Stewart Lee may be many things but he isn't that sort of comedian; he is known for not doing "jokes" per se and at times his material can be much more acerbic to the point where you're not sure if you can laugh or not. He opens this show with a bit of real life observation about buying a cup of coffee but it spectacularly fails as the smoke machine lets him down, the audience don't feed him the lines he needs and his real life story is not actually that interesting. It is a brilliantly awkward opening to the show and it is no surprise that he moves from there to cleverly dig at those that do those very types of shows and sell millions of DVD's to fans queueing to buy them like "captured Partisans digging their own mass grave". He does his own style here and he goes after those that he perceives has sold out for money, whether it be advertising, other comedians and particularly those presenters on Top Gear. It is brutal stuff and it almost feels like he is intent on alienating his audience by just how angry and clever he is with it. His attack on the non-PC Top Gear and their "just a joke" approach is incredible and his assault on Richard Hammond is hilarious and uncomfortable – particularly a story from his childhood (the two went to the same school) that is moving, involving, reveals a lot about Hammond's cowardice and is of course entirely fictional. While many comedians make fun of adverts, Lee does it here by constructing an entire world of history about language and tradition simply so he can exaggerate his rage. This sends him into the audience in a simulated breakdown during which he attacks specific members of the audience for piracy, for moving around during his bit and so on. It is brutally entertaining. Lee is not to everyone's tastes and there are times when I'm not even sure if he is to mine or not; however this is a really great show. Inventive, cleverly structured and masterfully delivered. It feels like it is collapsing and that his audience will all walk out any second but yet that is all part of the construct – it really shouldn't work but it is very effective, very engaging and very funny. Download it today!

• It's only a review...like they have on that internet

  onwardchristiansoldiers2011-05-25

  The only truly appropriate and proficient means of reviewing any piece of art is to approach it from a position of unbiased indifference. That's not going to happen today. I am biased. I have a vested interest in the promotion of Mr Lee through this review for those interested in his work. Stewart's comedy style has angered, confused and upset many. His repetitive nature and subsequent lack of 'jokes', has baffled comedy goers for decades now. If you are the type of person who believes comedy is a man or woman, standing on stage, telling you about things you already know about in a slightly different way, to potentially highlight the comical aspects of everyday life; this show is not for you. Instead, this show is for those who prefer their comedy to be cutting, cured and crafted. Stewart probably agonises over every word he chooses in his act. And for what? The bustling of laughter that wouldn't wake a sleeping housefly. In my opinion, we don't deserve him. We don't do him justice. And I know that you, the reader (should this ever be read), will be saying to yourself, "that person is just flattering that man due to some potentially undiscovered homoerotic adoration". Well you're wrong. I am flattering him because it is justified. Stewart manages to completely involve the audience in his act. No matter how apparently offensive the material, no matter how self aware or seemingly smug he is, he never forgets why he is where he is...to make people laugh. And he is rewarded by the live audience. Sometimes with what can only be described as a 'round of applaud'. (But who wants riotous applause just for mentioning the name of an Italian bread- based side dish?) But yet he seems to be shunned by a mainstream audience who don't appreciate, understand or see the relevance of his material. But here's my point, no art is inherently relevant. The Mona Lisa, The Venus de Milo and Dali's 'Canabalismo' are all, for lack of a better word, irrelevant. Except that they bring pleasure and joy to those who choose to accept their relevance. They provide their audience, if only for a split second, a sense of the achievement of the artist. What I'm saying is that basically, right, Stewart is a really good comedian who appears marginalised, but is, in fact, reserved for those willing to attempt to begin to understand his relevance. Support Stew, buy the DVD. And if you want to see how the misinterpretation of art manifest's itself as rage, then hop along to the bad reviews section of Stewart Lee's website. Otherwise view any of his TV or live stand up DVD works, and allow yourself to find a new appreciation for the possibilities of comedy.