Stewart Lee, do you think he's funny?

raven136

stimpson wrote: »

I found this last night on Lee's website - the Michael Redmond/Joe Pasquale story:

http://www.stewartlee.co.uk/press/writtenformoney/formoney.php?page=1995-12-00-joe_pasquale-sundaytimes.php

Pasquale is lucky he didnt use a friend of Joe Rogan's joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdugSUFbzws

Ash.J.Williams

raven136 wrote: »

Pasquale is lucky he didnt use a friend of Joe Rogan's joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdugSUFbzws

Southpark absoutely destroyed that guy (and kanye west) in one episode!!

Spunge

People not liking stewart lee makes me sad

sadie06

Spunge wrote: »

People not liking stewart lee makes me sad

Think how sad it would make him if everyone liked him!

take everything

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

By the way Michael Redmond is well worth checking out!
"i rang a book shop the other day, the woman said "can i help you", i said no i'm just browsing"

He's like an Irish Steven Wright.
That relentless absurdity but still coming out with great insights.
Shame that so much comedy has become the opposite of this stuff.

Ash.J.Williams

I don't even think he does take the pi$$ out frankie boyle, i thought the general jist of "boyles law" was that adding anal rape to a joke only makes it funny if it's crafted properly! (not by saying "anus" in sheffield in the middle of a joke told in french!) ha ha

lee_baby_simms

Tin Foil Hat wrote: »

He's an unfunny, monotoned, ranting bore with a superiority complex and a nasty streak.

You've just summed up why I find him funny.

e_e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLGvWEnbg3c

This is brilliant.

Ash.J.Williams

e_e wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLGvWEnbg3c

This is brilliant.

Top Gear
Breivik writes in praise of BBC television show Top Gear:
Jeremy Clarkson heads the program “Top Gear” at the BBC, one of the funniest shows on TV. Since it has absolutely nothing to do with politics or religion, only with cars, it is one of the very few programs at the Burka Broadcasting Corporation still worth seeing.
He goes on to quote at length from an article written by Jeremy Clarkson, entitled “we’ve been robbed of our Englishness,"from Times Online, in which Clarkson writes: "This is the only country in the world where the national flag is deemed offensive."
Breivik says: "I have to disagree with Clarkson regarding the English national flag, though. Discrediting national flags as signs of “bigotry” is happening all over the Western world."

Ash.J.Williams

are we done?

Dyr

raven136 wrote: »

Pasquale is lucky he didnt use a friend of Joe Rogan's joke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdugSUFbzws

The best thing about the UFC back in the early days was it didnt have that unfunny cock anywhere near it.

walrusgumble

My name is URL wrote: »

It's not even just the younger guys who tend to do it. Rob Brydon & Jack Dee are terrible for talking over others just to make themselves heard.. even Dara Ó Briain has a tendency to do it on panel shows.. and they're all very well respected stand-ups.

Marcus Brigstocke handles himself well on panel shows in comparison to the above. He's usually great on HIGNFY. Actually on the point of that show, I'd say Ian Hislop is funnier than most 'comedians' mentioned so far.. and that's not even his main occupation! Paul Merton is also very very funny live...

Obviously it's just down to personal preference at the end of the day, comedy is probably the most subjective form of entertainment there is.. no one person can truly say that 'x isn't funny'.

Hislop is great, he does it with little effort. Wasn't he involved with Private Eye and Spitting Image?

Love Rob Byrdon and Jack Dee, surprised how funny Dara can be, thought he was a bit safe, but no, he comes out with some crackers

Lee, ah, he is hit and miss. you need to be clued in listening to him, that kind of rules the fun a bit

Chips Lovell

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.

I don't know OP. I think you probably could have gotten a few more loaded adjectives in there.

My name is URL

walrusgumble wrote: »

Hislop is great, he does it with little effort. Wasn't he involved with Private Eye and Spitting Image?

Yeah.. he's one seriously funny and intelligent man but yet hates when his stuff is described as 'comedy'

That in itself shows him for what he is.. since he's purportedly the 'most sued man in British history'.. while loads of other comedians get away with stuff by saying it was 'only a joke' (Frankie Boyle springs to mind), Hislop actually fights his cases using facts!

He made a holy show out of people when he appeared at the Leveson Inquiry.. the man's a genius. Should be Pope, or Taoiseach.. or something!

Ash.J.Williams

Saw stu last night...brilliant of course...I was actually honoured that we are now up there with Glasgow and stu and rip the pi$$ out of us to our faces!!

Got to observe a heckler in his habitat too from my balcony seat...what pathetic lives they lead...after he heckled, his "mates" and people around him turned on him a little and he spent the next 10 minute looking for their attention...and the rest of the gig with his head down ...dejected that nobody was interested..."Are you a sardine?" indeed mr heckler....you f**ing tw*t......

cb102

Saw him last night too. Wasn't his best performance in my opinion.
He seemed a little p1$$ed off (and yes I know it can be part of the act).

Hecklers ruined a couple of key moments. Have you ever heard a funny heckler?

"Did you know you can get locked up in England if you say you are English" x 50 - not great
Imaginary Black wife and Gay man wife - great

AnonoBoy

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Got to observe a heckler in his habitat too from my balcony seat...what pathetic lives they lead...after he heckled, his "mates" and people around him turned on him a little and he spent the next 10 minute looking for their attention...and the rest of the gig with his head down ...dejected that nobody was interested..."Are you a sardine?" indeed mr heckler....you f**ing tw*t......

That guy was a c*nt. F*cking idiots.

cb102 wrote: »

"Did you know you can get locked up in England if you say you are English" x 50 - not great
Imaginary Black wife and Gay man wife - great

It was a bit of a work-in-progress show so I'd say those routines will be finely tuned next time you see him do them.

Thought Eleanor Tiernan was pretty good too in support.

stimpson

cb102 wrote: »

Saw him last night too. Wasn't his best performance in my opinion.
He seemed a little p1$$ed off (and yes I know it can be part of the act).

Hecklers ruined a couple of key moments. Have you ever heard a funny heckler?

"Did you know you can get locked up in England if you say you are English" x 50 - not great
Imaginary Black wife and Gay man wife - great

I saw him Sunday night and we were spared the hecklers. Obviously the real fans got tickets for the first gig. He doesn't like new people coming to his shows

The repetition is part of the act - he always seems to push it that little bit too far to wind up the audience. He did it in Carpet Remnant World too, and on the telly.

It did seem a bit short to me though - on at 9:15, finished at 10:30. I'm pretty sure he did a 2 hour set last time.

In the taxi on the way home the taxi driver started going on about people with 7 kids on social welfare. I nearly said you can stop here and let me out...

April O Neill

I went to see him in Vicar Street the other night and realised... I actually don't find him that funny.

He's intelligent and what he talks about can be interesting, but I realised, when it comes down to it, I like my comedians to give me belly laughs as well as being intelligent and insightful.

I also don't really like the way he tends to bitch about other comedians in his sets, even if they're not even comedians I like. Tis a bit snide.

AnonoBoy

April O Neill wrote: »

I went to see him in Vicar Street the other night and realised... I actually don't find him that funny.

He's intelligent and what he talks about can be interesting, but I realised, when it comes down to it, I like my comedians to give me belly laughs as well as being intelligent and insightful.

Did you agree the sh*t out of his set? :pac:

April O Neill

repsol wrote: »

He is Ricky Gervais favorite comedian which is high praise in my book.

Really? It isn't, in mine.

April O Neill

AnonoBoy wrote: »

Did you agree the sh*t out of his set? :pac:

I don't understand this post, which probably means I missing some clever joke. Ah well.

AnonoBoy

April O Neill wrote: »

I don't understand this post, which probably means I missing some clever joke. Ah well.

He talked last night about 'comedy by consensus' - "didn't laugh at him but I agreed the sh*t out of his set."

I felt it apt since you seemed to fall into that category.

Did he not mention that on Sunday night?

crazygeryy

first time ive ever seen him .that very first clip in the ops post about del boy was absoloute ****e.kak.going on that i wouldnt watch him ever ever again.
thankyou for wasting my time op.

April O Neill

AnonoBoy wrote: »

He talked last night about 'comedy by consensus' - "didn't laugh at him but I agreed the sh*t out of his set."

I felt it apt since you seemed to fall into that category.

Did he not mention that on Sunday night?

Oh yes, he did. Christ, shows how unmemorable I found his show! I was also really uncomfortable, and very tired which didn't help!

April O Neill

krudler wrote: »

Well to be fair people will naturally defend something they have a vested interest in, god knows I do it too. I'm not saying Lee is a bad comedian, he's not, I just don't like his delivery a lot of the time and constant banging on about how other comedians suck. Is he funny? yes, clever when he wants to be? yes. Beyond criticism? nope. He has plenty of weak points, but pointing those out means you "just don't get it".

Just like when people criticise Ricky Gervais.

krudler

April O Neill wrote: »

Just like when people criticise Ricky Gervais.

I like Gervais too but he's very hit and miss, watched Derek recently and thought it was great though.

Ash.J.Williams

AnonoBoy wrote: »

That guy was a c*nt. F*cking idiots.



It was a bit of a work-in-progress show so I'd say those routines will be finely tuned next time you see him do them.

Thought Eleanor Tiernan was pretty good too in support.

and i nearly forgot...the guy who heckled right on the punchline!!

April O Neill

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Pardon anyone for knowing anything about literary fiction or art.

Yes, anyone who doesn't like Stewart Lee is a literary philistine... apparently.

April O Neill

AnonoBoy wrote: »

He talked last night about 'comedy by consensus' - "didn't laugh at him but I agreed the sh*t out of his set."

I felt it apt since you seemed to fall into that category.

Did he not mention that on Sunday night?

Oh, wait did you think of the Lativan bit?

I didn't think it worked, at all.

I'd be surprised if it turns up in the finished show.

AnonoBoy

April O Neill wrote: »

Oh, wait did you think of the Lativan bit?

It was alright, I've seen that idea trounced out by people before - the 'making up stereotypes about countries we don't know anything about'. I imagine it'll be a lot tighter if he keeps it.

krudler

I'd love to know what goes through the mind of hecklers, you're never as funny as the person on stage and they'll probably verbally destroy you.

wp_rathead

Going to him in roisin tonight
Cant wait

April O Neill

Bambi wrote: »

His top gear routine is worth it.

I have to admit, it's great. Bang on the money.

April O Neill

stimpson wrote: »

He did the stand up circuit with him back in the day and Lee gives him credit for his originality and creativity. Harry is very eccentric and he harks back to the complete daftness of the likes of Spike Milligan or Monty Python. Taken like that, it makes sitting down to You've been Framed with the kids less of an ordeal than it used to be.

He also gives Hill credit for inventing the callback, where an idea is introduced early in a set and reintroduced again later on to comedic effect. Anyone who has managed to sit through a whole Stewart Lee gig will see that he likes to use it himself quite a bit.

Ok, warming a bit more to Stewart for his bigging up of Harry Hill, who I ****ing love!

April O Neill

AnonoBoy wrote: »

It was alright, I've seen that idea trounced out by people before - the 'making up stereotypes about countries we don't know anything about'. I imagine it'll be a lot tighter if he keeps it.

Yeah, if he wants to keep it, he'll need to do something to change it a bit.

April O Neill

krudler wrote: »

I'd love to know what goes through the mind of hecklers, you're never as funny as the person on stage and they'll probably verbally destroy you.

Not a Richard Herring fan usually, but watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8IQYSp0EuE

Hoop66

The one where he's talking about Richard Littlejohn and "how far he will go in his quest for the accurate labelling of dead women" is just sublime.

Mostly he makes me laugh, and that's good enough for me.

I don't judge you if you don't like him. Why would I, when there are so many other things to judge you about?

Chazz Michael Michaels

krudler wrote: »

Find some of his stuff funny but it all comes across as sneering snobby comedy. The clip about breaking down the Only Fools clip above. How many people will remember a Stewart Lee gag in 30 years time and use it as part of a standup routine? exactly.

I wish I was psychic/had a time machine...

krudler

April O Neill wrote: »

Not a Richard Herring fan usually, but watch this:

There's a good documentary called Heckler on the subject. I think it's all on youtube too, Jamie Kennedy inteviews comedians about heckling, harsh reviews and when critics get personal. It's well worth a watch, some of the comedians responses to being heckled are absolutely brilliant. Not quiet the guy who smashed a guitar off a hecklers head though :pac:

krudler

Chazz Michael Michaels wrote: »

I wish I was psychic/had a time machine...

I watched a few of Lee's full shows and found him much funnier in context like that, I still think he drags the arse out of punchlines way too long but some of his stuff is very funny indeed, the bit about Diana's death and the inflatable E.T. doll is absolutely brilliant.

Ash.J.Williams

April O Neill wrote: »

Oh, wait did you think of the Lativan bit?

I didn't think it worked, at all.

I'd be surprised if it turns up in the finished show.

i thought that was brilliant!

Gbear

Was at the show on Saturday. Loved it.

It had a bit of a lull in the middle but finished brilliantly.
The bit about his pet guinea pig was genius. My friend next to me could barely breathe.

RayM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Got to observe a heckler in his habitat too from my balcony seat...what pathetic lives they lead...after he heckled, his "mates" and people around him turned on him a little and he spent the next 10 minute looking for their attention...and the rest of the gig with his head down ...dejected that nobody was interested..."Are you a sardine?" indeed mr heckler....you f**ing tw*t......

That was bizarre. The "are you a sardine?" thing is a line from one of Stewart Lee's earlier shows, so the heckler was presumably an actual fan (albeit a fucking retard), as opposed to someone who just turned up accidentally or was dragged along by friends.

I enjoyed it and it had some great moments, but it wasn't anywhere near as good as his usual shows. In fairness, the tickets were a bit cheaper and he acknowledged on his website that it would be unstructured and disjointed.

Incidentally, the seating in Vicar Street is seriously uncomfortable.

AnonoBoy

RayM wrote: »

That was bizarre. The "are you a sardine?" thing is a line from one of Stewart Lee's earlier shows, so the heckler was presumably an actual fan (albeit a fucking retard), as opposed to someone who just turned up accidentally or was dragged along by friends.

At comedy gigs sycophants who love the act and think they'll impress them by shouting out stuff are much more annoying that people who just don't like the act.

Ash.J.Williams

AnonoBoy wrote: »

At comedy gigs sycophants who love the act and think they'll impress them by shouting out stuff are much more annoying that people who just don't like the act.

I actually watched the c*nt...he had no interest in the show from that point on...the only time he raised his head was to try and attract the attention of his "friends" who were ignoring him

RayM

RayM wrote: »

Incidentally, the seating in Vicar Street is seriously uncomfortable.

Olympia is horrible too if you're more than 5 foot tall, impacts on how many comedy gigs I go to.

Ash.J.Williams

thought was great with one heckler "what?.....what?????....What???"

stimpson

Deleted User wrote: »

Olympia is horrible too if you're more than 5 foot tall, impacts on how many comedy gigs I go to.

+1 The International is a much comfier venue despite being the size of a shoebox.

damienirel

Skid X wrote: »

I think he is brilliant live, but I don't agree with some of his snobbish comments.

Richard Herring is better.

Totally agree man, Herring's self deprecating humor instantly makes him more likeable - although I think Lee's stand up isn't meant to be funny outright - it's meant to get people thinking and question themselves and what we find funny as an audience - it's a bit George Carlin and that has to be respected.