Stewart Lee, do you think he's funny?

fryup

he's about as funny as been hung by the bollix

he's pretentious, and the people who find him funny and frown on others who don't are pretentious bellends

Mardy Bum

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Complete horse ****e from you Wibbs and ironic how you use a pretention, self importance and snobbery to accuse me of same.

He is being ironic like Stewart Lee.

Wibbs

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Pardon anyone for knowing anything about literary fiction or art.

Ahhh the gift of pretension that keeps on giving. :pac: Do you even see how you're coming across here MB? Really?

Gbear

I'm quite fond of the way he seems to intentionally sabotage his own jokes just because he wants to.

I don't think he's super clever or breaking boundaries in comedy or any ****e but he has his own thing and he does it well.
His thing is comedy about comedy (as opposed to about trains, or ex-wives or whatever). That doesn't make it better or worse. It's just a topic.

BlurstMonkey

Wibbs wrote: »

I think the definition of "snob" and indeed "pretentious" is being confused by some here. Pointing out snobbery does not mean one is being a snob to do so. Often means the exact opposite. The dogs reference? I could have said cats I suppose. No "taste" or lack of it involved. If anything I was equating the audience with dog owners. Humans as it were. Did you actually think I was calling people/equating people with dogs? Ehhhh

You can address me directly. Retreat into technicalities if you like. The connotations involved in the dog comment you made are obvious and as old as the hills when it comes to talking down your nose about something or someone. I won't even bother, I'm not looking to argue. I'll say again, it's a comment in bad taste. Pull the confused face if you like, it's not impressive.

take everything

He's OK but he's no Tom O' Connor.

Call Me Jimmy

More interesting than funny to me...

Mardy Bum

Wibbs wrote: »

Ahhh the gift of pretension that keeps on giving. :pac: Do you even see how you're coming across here MB? Really?

Lee's comedy is grounded in postmodern literature. Deconstruction, intertextuality, self referentiality and meta-comedy is his shtick. Some people will like it, some will not. I know exactly how I am coming across; I'm simply trying to highlight some of the merits of his stand up. I already said in my first post in the last thread this would appear to some as pretentious (heaven forbid someone actually understand his methods). You believe that this is pretentious. There is very little I can do about the assumptions you are making.

Howard Juneau

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Complete horse ****e from you Wibbs and ironic how you use pretention, self importance and snobbery to accuse me of same. Stewart Lee is flawed like any other and I disagree with his opinion and certain statements on occasion, but as far as originality and innovation is concerned he's light years ahead of most of his peers.

No, no he's not.
His ramblings are mostly inane & the fact that he occasionally says something insightful should not negate the hours of verbal diarrhoea that one has to suffer beforehand.

Wibbs

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Complete horse ****e from you Wibbs

That's usually a given.

ironic

We'll get to that later...

pretention

Please point out the pretension in my post.

self importance

Not a hard sell, but again point it out in this instance.

snobbery

Please point out the snobbery in my post.

However your posts are far more easily construed as "snobbish". I could re quote them, but that would be churlish. And we come back to the "Ironic" of above.

BlurstMonkey wrote:

I'll say again, it's a comment in bad taste.

Good god. OK I apologise unreservedly for bringing in dogs and their owners as a metaphor.

SimonQuinlank

Think he's brilliant.

People calling his stuff snobby or hipster-ish are bang on,that's the exact response his character is trying to elicit!

Howard Juneau

take everything wrote: »

He's OK but he's no Tom O' Connor.

Going to school dressed as a Japanese Rear Admiral

Wibbs

Howard Juneau wrote: »

No, no he's not.
His ramblings are mostly inane & the fact that he occasionally says something insightful should not negate the hours of verbal diarrhoea that one has to suffer beforehsnd.

Is that me or Lee you're speaking of you bastard? :mad::D

take everything

tylercheribini wrote: »

Kevin Eldons stuff on that was pure gold aswell, Simon Quinlank etc

FYP.
Life nowadays needs more Kevin Eldon.

Howard Juneau

Wibbs wrote: »

Is that me or Lee you're speaking of you bastard? :mad::D

In the immortal words of Grandpa Simpson.
A little from column A & a little from column B

pappyodaniel

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Lee's comedy is grounded in postmodern literature. Deconstruction, intertextuality, self referentiality and meta-comedy is his shtick. Some people will like it, some will not. I know exactly how I am coming across; I'm simply trying to highlight some of the merits of his stand up. I already said in my first post in the last thread this would appear to some as pretentious (heaven forbid someone actually understand his methods). You believe that this is pretentious. There is very little I can do about the assumptions you are making.

Que?

Wibbs

Mardy Bum wrote: »

I already said in my first post in the last thread this would appear to some as pretentious (heaven forbid someone actually understand his methods).

There is an unintended internal beauty to that sentence.

Gamayun

SimonQuinlank wrote: »

Think he's brilliant.

People calling his stuff snobby or hipster-ish are bang on,that's the exact response his character is trying to elicit!

I thought you might show up in this thread! :pac: Finished your hobbies for the day?

I like Lee, he makes me laugh, and that's all that matters to me when watching comedy.

K.Flyer

pappyodaniel wrote: »

I'm not a fan. I think he's one for the hispster comedy snob who takes smug satisfaction in understanding the joke.

He has been around quite a few years now and still don't find him that funny.

Mardy Bum

Wibbs wrote: »

There is an unintended internal beauty to that sentence.

Don't worry Wibbs it is all intended. I'm only guessing but I take it you are not a fan of postmodern literature?

Owen_S

He is just such an easy person to hate, poking fun at 'high profile' comedians, in a bid to raise his own profile and promote his show on national television.

Temptamperu

Carpet remnant world changed my mind about him.

krudler

pappyodaniel wrote: »

I'd be of the same opinion. I do appreciate a fair bit of his material but I don't like being accused of being thick for being critical of his long repetitive sequences.

Yeah exactly, it's like saying a musician has no bad songs or a book doesn't have boring chapters. You can perfectly criticise something while agreeing it's good points too, blindly slating anyone who has valid criticisms of something is pretty silly.

Wibbs

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Don't worry Wibbs it is all intended.

I believe ya, thousands wouldn't.

I'm only guessing but I take it you are not a fan of postmodern literature?

I'm a fan of many things, some of it considered "postmodernist". The problem I have with postmodernism(and a couple of other isms) is that all too often it's a cover all for the crap as well as good and because it's lumped in together it's often unassailable to critique, because well "you just don't get it"(and god how people can be afraid to not "get it" in some circles). Which must be about the worst critical response in human history. Up there with and the mirror image of "shure thats all shíte". You see this in "modern art" too. You'll get Braque lumped in with some eejit freezing his own ball sweat to make "installations" in a closed fridge. But again it's somehow equally valid. An egalitarianism of consensus applied wholesale to the sometimes good, but mostly banal and often utterly worthless under the banner of a movement. A whole movement that took Duchamp's original one off and snoo snoo'd it to death. And god forbid you should point out the emperor with his tackle out.

Or as John Lennon once remarked "Avant garde? That's French for bullshít".

pappyodaniel

SimonQuinlank wrote: »

Think he's brilliant.

People calling his stuff snobby or hipster-ish are bang on,that's the exact response his character is trying to elicit!

So is the joke on the fans of the content of his stand-up or the ones who are his biggest critics?

B.A._Baracus

I hate that pc gone mad bit that people post on here so much (yes, i know i am leaving myself open for someone to post that in resposive)

It's a stupid sketch that people take as gospel on here.

SimonQuinlank

The joke is not on anybody.

Was just pointing out that the people who were saying he's snobby or a hipster as a critcism are correct but were missing the point,that's the character his on stage persona is aiming for.

_Whimsical_

BlurstMonkey wrote: »

I love Stewart Lees stuff. He's a man of quality at swim in a sea of mediocrity and I do genuinely believe that people don't like him because following him requires just a certain amount of mental stimulation, and it is a kind of intellectual satisfaction. That I feel I shouldn't be typing that as a statement goes to show the current of anti-intellectualism that exists in modern day culture. I expect some Disney/Sesame Street type reaction along the lines of "everyone has their own opinion", which is just encouraging stupidity, mediocrity and a society incapable of critical thinking.

You shouldn't be typing that because it is self important, arrogant bluster. We are talking a comedian here, not Dostoyevsky. Lots of people here are saying they would enjoy Stewart Lee if he didn't insist on his painful style of delivery. Maybe he employs the repititious style so some people can keep up with the humour. Not all of us require the slow lane though.


The strange degree of self congratulation summed up in the above post for just enjoying Stewart Lee is plain weird. Sitting back and appreciating what he's saying is not really something to be all that proud of. It doesnt mark you out as a superiour intellect,if you'd written it then sure, but just managing to identify the funny all by yourself is not all that impressive.

Mardy Bum

Wibbs wrote: »

I believe ya, thousands wouldn't.

I was being ironic a bit like Lee. I thought the brackets would have given that away.

I'm a fan of many things, some of it considered "postmodernist". The problem I have with postmodernism(and a couple of other isms) is that all too often it's a cover all for the crap as well as good and because it's lumped in together it's often unassailable to critique, because well "you just don't get it"(and god how people can be afraid to not "get it" in some circles). Which must be about the worst critical response in human history. Up there with and the mirror image of "shure thats all shíte". You see this in "modern art" too. You'll get Braque lumped in with some eejit freezing his own ball sweat to make "installations" in a closed fridge. But again it's somehow equally valid. An egalitarianism of consensus applied wholesale to the sometimes good, but mostly banal and often utterly worthless under the banner of a movement. A whole movement that took Duchamp's original one off and snoo snoo'd it to death. And god forbid you should point out the emperor with his tackle out.

Or as John Lennon once remarked "Avant garde? That's French for bullshít".

Beckett, Borges, Nabokov, Pound, Carlos Williams, Joyce, Wolf, Miller, Ginsberg and many others were part of the avante garde movement. Nowadays the movement has produced very little of note. Some of David Foster Wallace's work (Oblivion which is excellent) could be described as avante garde. It has largely been limited to academic type fiction.

In any genre of literature there will be good and bad works. Similarly in comedy there will be good and bad works.

Well a person can critique something if they are aware of what is going on in the piece. What is the writer trying to do? Is he doing it successfully? You have to be fit to identify the techniques the writer/comedian is using before you go to town on him. I've listed Lee's techniques a post or two ago. If you are aware of all of them, aware of how they should be used, then go right ahead slate him if you will.

NegativeCreep

If he's like how he is in the video in the OP all the time then he's crap. Worst attempt at comedy I've ever seen in my life! I would like to punch the smug face off him.

Howard Juneau

Comparing Beckett & Lee in their respective fields. "shudder"

Mardy Bum

Howard Juneau wrote: »

Comparing Beckett & Lee in their respective fields. "shudder"

Who made a comparison. I listed artists in the avante garde movement. Lee is not really avante garde. Although he does borrow from him.

Bowlardo

I love the Diana sketch

Mardy Bum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Puggk5MCA

Lee will harvest this thread for material.
Surely even people who don't like him will like the above.

RayM

Owen_S wrote: »

He is just such an easy person to hate, poking fun at 'high profile' comedians, in a bid to raise his own profile and promote his show on national television.

That's nonsense. His stand-up routine is mostly self-parody. His stage persona is that of a snobbish, pretentious, embittered, failed middle-aged comedian who used to be popular in the 1990s. "Stewart Lee, the comedian" is an exaggerated version of the real Stewart Lee. Far from seeking to raise his profile, he seems to relish the idea of being able to portray himself as a failure. When he pokes fun at higher profile comedians, he does it from the perspective of the fictional "Stewart Lee, the comedian" whose BBC show keeps losing viewers and who has to sell his own DVDs from a cardboard box in the corridors after gigs.

The reality is that it's all one big self-deprecating act, and he's happy to remain below the radar and to simply eke out a reasonable living from doing something he loves, rather than become a massive superstar.

greedygoblin

RayM wrote: »

That's nonsense. His stand-up routine is mostly self-parody. His stage persona is that of a snobbish, pretentious, embittered, failed middle-aged comedian who used to be popular in the 1990s. "Stewart Lee, the comedian" is an exaggerated version of the real Stewart Lee. Far from seeking to raise his profile, he seems to relish the idea of being able to portray himself as a failure. When he pokes fun at higher profile comedians, he does it from the perspective of the fictional "Stewart Lee, the comedian" whose BBC show keeps losing viewers and who has to sell his own DVDs from a cardboard box in the corridors after gigs.

The reality is that it's all one big self-deprecating act, and he's happy to remain below the radar and to simply eke out a reasonable living from doing something he loves, rather than become a massive superstar.

You made him sound like Alan Partridge there!

take everything

NegativeCreep wrote: »

If he's like how he is in the video in the OP all the time then he's crap. Worst attempt at comedy I've ever seen in my life! I would like to punch the smug face off him.

Well that's the tagline for his next tour sorted.

Real Life

hes probably my favourite comedian along with another AH loves to hate Ricky Gervais. louis ck and bill burr are up there too

NegativeCreep

take everything wrote: »

Well that's the tagline for his next tour sorted.

I'll be looking for royalties

Femme_Fatale

I think he's pretty sharp.

What's this "hipster" thing about in relation to anything a person doesn't like that isn't mainstream? The term has merit for some stuff, but it's become just a way to dismiss/sneer a lot of the time too, which is ironically what hipsters get accused of.

Howard Juneau

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Who made a comparison. I listed artists in the avante garde movement. Lee is not really avante garde. Although he does borrow from him.

You mean he steals.

Or Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Joe Stalin, Genghis Khan all prícks


and
Stewart Lee.....he's a lovely fella

take everything

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I think he's pretty sharp.

What's this "hipster" thing about in relation to anything a person doesn't like that isn't mainstream? The term has merit for some stuff, but it's become just a way to dismiss/sneer a lot of the time too, which is ironically what hipsters get accused of.

True.
I wouldn't have thought hipsters would have liked him anyway.

RayM

greedygoblin wrote: »

You made him sound like Alan Partridge there!

Funny you should mention that. He actually wrote a lot of early Alan Partridge stuff.

Mardy Bum

Howard Juneau wrote: »

You mean he steals.

Or Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, Joe Stalin, Genghis Khan all prícks


and
Stewart Lee.....he's a lovely fella

His dark self deprecating comedy is very Beckettian.

Joyce was a self christened copy and paste artist.

Its called intertextuality.

Howard Juneau

Mardy Bum wrote: »

His dark self deprecating comedy is very Beckettian.

Joyce was a self christened copy and paste artist.

Its called intertextuality.

Its actually called bullshít.
He's an average comedian, loves to deconstruct others work & then try to make a living from that.
Maybe more Joycian than Beckett

greedygoblin

RayM wrote: »

Funny you should mention that. He actually wrote a lot of early Alan Partridge stuff.

Didn't know that. You learn something new every day!

calanus

I suppose there is a bit of a "you have to be in on the joke" kind of thing in order to appreciate him. The joke being that on stage he is playing a caricature of himself - someone who had higher ambitions than being a lowly comic and is bitter of all those people like Michael McIntyre who sold out and have become successful and well liked.

Maybe that is what is so hipsterish about him I suppose???

That being said I am very much a fan and for those of you that don't like him, you might at least enjoy this.

Savoir.Faire

Mardy Bum wrote: »

His dark self deprecating comedy is very Beckettian.

Joyce was a self christened copy and paste artist.

Its called intertextuality.

He doesn't even have a good dick joke though.

Wibbs

Real Life wrote: »

hes probably my favourite comedian along with another AH loves to hate Ricky Gervais.

Eh whatever about Lee, even he doesn't deserve to be in the same sentence as Gervais. Gervais; a comic that provides his own laughter track. While I personally find Lee tiresome he at least is attempting to work on few gears, Gervais with rare exceptions only has one gear.

take everything

calanus wrote: »

I suppose there is a bit of a "you have to be in on the joke" kind of thing in order to appreciate him. The joke being that on stage he is playing a caricature of himself - someone who had higher ambitions than being a lowly comic and is bitter of all those people like Michael McIntyre who sold out and have become successful and well liked.

Maybe that is what is so hipsterish about him I suppose???

That being said I am very much a fan and for those of you that don't like him, you might at least enjoy this.

Very funny.
Poor Stew.
Some seriously hateful people out there.
The Crohn's comment was particularly vile.