You made Stewart Lee’s newsletter with a review of your review that reads: “Here is a thorough, and not entirely positive, review from a thoughtful young man on UA-cam, still better than most pro-critics.”
"Knee-length blazer"?? That is a '50s-style drape jacket as worn by the Teddy Boys and a nod to his own comedy hero Ted Chippington who used to wear one on stage. Can't BELIEVE you didn't know that...
I was very lucky to see Lee in London one time when there happened to be a huge snow storm, and only half the aidience showed up, and they were just not into it at all. He ended up dropping the whole routine and walked off stage and into the crowd and did the whole next hour just in the audience. And he worked them and worked them until by the last ten minutes everyone was absolutely dying from laughter. It was an absolute masterclass for me as an aspiring writer. It felt like in a way, having not the immediate live from the audience and then abandoning the material allowed for a absolute raw early club days type of experience.
I was actually surprised (unless I missed it) that he left out something from when I saw him: after doing some crowd work he mentions that he's become that good that he can make something entirely planned seem spontaneous, that he has blueprints that can be applied to basically any interaction, which I felt lent to the overall theme. As an autistic person myself I read this as being a metaphor for masking/constantly attempting to indulge in new things before inevitably assuming comfortable routines.
I went to see it in London at the start of the year. We had a conversation about comics in the middle of the show and I got an applause because I’m a genius
I showed up only slightly late to a Stewart Lee gig once, and the stewards were under order to hold us back till he'd done his first few jokes so that the late comers entered the room at the exact moment he needed them to. That's how heavily structured his shows are.
I mean, the start time is given on the ticket, the website and if you phone them up they'll also tell you down the phone into your ear. Yet. There you were. Late. 🙂
Lee's 'observational comedy' running around is greeted by the audience as a familiar old friend, like a call back to a previous joke, in this case from another show. He keeps it very short, enough for the audience to enjoy the familiarity, without milking it. It's similar to the audience's love of the 'raise your game' style of 'Stewart Lee's' attacks on the audience's 'ineptitude'. His best observational comedy joke remains 'I haven't noticed anything about your lives'.
Basic Lee in Kingston upon Thames was interesting. The ending was better and slightly different than the Lowry version, and different and slightly better. As well as being slightly better and different. And I liked it. But then I am a genuis, and our audience doesn't need everything explained in fine detail like you do in the north.
I first met Stewart Lee at my local sperm bank. He emerged from the cubical cup in hand and passed me his copy of Razzle. He recommended a story in the readers wives section. He said it had hidden depths, duality of meaning, and a plot twist that he didnt see coming until he did.
honestly, i found the jazz bit beautiful, it felt less "just repeating a phrase until it becomes funny" and more like a person digging themselves in a hole, no one is pushing back but he keeps "haggling" with an imaginary audience also i think the "you fed them those berries" is a reference to his old joke about his grandfather feeding crisps to his old army buddies and them all dying?, its pretty much the same joke with a different noun but with no setup
Oh wow I didn’t think of that. Did it work for you as a finale? The jazz bit was my favourite part of the show. It reminded me a bit of him smacking the mic on the stand in 41st Best but with more play and musicality. Thanks for the comment :)
@@ComedyWithoutErrors Ah lad, come on now, he's done that berry joke since forever. No offence but I think you'd be better off doing reaction videos rather than these in-depth, Team-B-ass critiques.
This is the best show I've ever seen him do live. The recording missed about 30% of the magic. I was suspicious of everything taking place in the theatre and onstage. I refuse to believe a flickering stage light was an actual technical error, but instead planned psychological warfare.
His joke about there being "no point writing jokes about Sunak, he wont be around long enough. It would be like trying to befriend a disposable barbecue" got me so good I spat coffee across the room. Always a risk having any liquids around while watching Lee
The number of people who seem to spit drinks out at UA-cam videos is ridiculously high. I can't wait for the inevitable Stewart Lee bit calling out all these people who seem to spit fluids out at a joke, and then have everyone claim they never said they did that. Nobody does that, no you didn't spit out your coffee.
@@Skippymabob yeah we all have mate but the frequency of the claim would have you believe that people watch comedy with a permanent mouth full of coffee, it's always coffee too isn't it for some reason, never beer, never sprite or peach kombucha is it? The bigger likelihood is that people are just parroting a thing they've heard others say. I've probably actually spit drink out from being caught off guard less than 10 times in my entire life and it's usually not when im watching comedy shows or stand-up, because i sort of expect to laugh when im watching those. Do you not expect to laugh when you watch comedians doing comedy?
Great review, I’ve watched it 4-5 times and though it’s excellent (I particularly liked his version of crowd work in this one), I had similar feelings in regard to material being recycled. The overall message being too concealed in this special I agree with, as until now I hadn’t ever considered the neuro-divergent diagnosis stuff as being anything grounded in reality, but now you’ve pointed out the potential meaning of those cut-aways I think I might need to rewatch it through that lens as clearly I didn’t get it. “Don’t come and see me if you don’t know what anything is.” PS: Not sure how you’d go about reviewing it but Sam Campbell - Companion is fantastic.
Even the message I pulled out of it was after really trying to analyse and think about it. It’s very very ambiguous. Glad you agree, there’s always a fear I missed something haha Sam Campbell is a great shout! Was thinking of talking about Eric Andre’s special ‘Legalise Everything’ and what makes good absurdist/surreal comedy. Campbell is a great example of an absolute oddball who delivers insane comedy while understanding how jokes work. Appreciate the comment ;)
@@ComedyWithoutErrors Wtf are you two talking about -- "The Message"? It's fucking comedy -- that's tge message. Lee must be chuckling away at dorks like you. As Dylan (and some others) have said, "What people get from my music is nothing to do with me".
I've had better full-belly laughs from other comedians, but of all the comedy "bits" I remember and think about long afterwards, a lot of them are Stewart Lee bits.
Re: Lee needing to mix things up for his next special, iirc it's a show in which he's a comic book hero fighting something called the Man-Wulf. So i guess he's got you covered there.
Indeed, Stu's next special is titled _STEWART LEE vs THE MAN-WULF_ and there's nothing I'm looking forward to seeing more. From his website: > Lee shares his stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity.
Thats quite exciting does anyone remember when Lee helped out Baconface do some surprise shows. Shadowed in secrecy. Never got to see one myself but everyone raved about it
A very thoughtful review indeed. Having seen Basic Lee earlier in the tour made me recognise just how much he leaned into audience interraction, as the televised special was very different to the show I attended. And not just because some material evolved. And yes, parts of his routine seemed like perfunctory revist of his greatest hits, with his "All the (insert object)..." routine lacking the perfect comedic timing of past performances. But still, "he's a genius, yah"...
I find that I often get treated far more seriously and with more reverence when I wear my t-shirt with the slogan, "I get Stewart Lee." Emblazoned on both sides.
Saw his Man Wulf just before Xmas at a matinee, It is something else, felt like Bacon face was back at times. The afternoon audience were not with him for much of it, despite Stew's huge efforts in this show. Therefore when he just stopped mid-sentence and called us all "Christmas C***ts" it felt justified and we all felt responsible. Best show of his I have seen for a while.
As a jazz fan I enjoyed the jazz bit, if only because all the references are extremely accurate (except for ending a piece with a diminished 7th chord)
Stewart Lee saying, as if he were somebody else;" Stewart Lee's a genius; I like him, and that makes me a genius" is mind bogglingly self aware and at the same time, incredibly self critical. Yes, it's clever to trade in duality, but this material is so on the money. I'm feeling stuff about myself, my values, my beliefs, MY self worth. I like him; Stewart Lee's a genius.
Yep, at least that's my take on it. Have you watched King Rocker? There's a part in it where he's standing outside the same place. Making that film brought him back to the place for the first time since he was a tiny baby. He jokes how he's found himself using this devastating moment only as an emotional set piece for the film instead of dealing with the weight of the reality of it.
17:00 - I've only watched the show once, but here's what I remembered when you said that: somewhere in the beginning, he mentions that the audience will see the quality change in delivery. And if this change never comes, then he's made a joke on himself (and knowing Lee's persona, we have to assume that it's deliberate)... Well, we, humans, are able to interpret everything as anything, so... Lee's got us here. But he's a genius because everyone could have done that before him, but he was the first one... Well, except for looking into the camera
As a comedian who does material about autism (although in my case, very openly), and takes a lot of inspiration from Lee, this show resonated with me on an incredibly deep level. Although, I see how someone without autism or at least an understanding of neurodiversity, could see the show as a series of disconnected ramblings. Conversely, for this reason, I actually really liked the "Imagine Jazz" routine. I think sometimes, as comedians we can fall into the trap of writing jokes purely for ourselves or at least people like us, not realising that not everyone will be able to empathise with our experiences. I'm still trying to find that balance between doing jokes about autism, and making my comedy relatable to audiences. It's an interesting challenge 😂
I’m in my late sixties & agree Stewart Lee is without doubt The Best Stand up I’ve ever heard in last 60 years! 🎯 👍 Disagree with your obvious struggle to criticise him.😃
Glad to hear someone felt similarly. I thought Carpet Remnants was almost the peak of his career, with Content Provider being the polish of that. But after that, it got a bit too familiar, and a bit opaque. The Thatcher/Scooby Doo/Chicken routine from Carpet Remnants made my face ache from laughing and being so immersed.
I feel like he's maybe spearing the confessional comic stylings that became popular among millenial and gen z comics and fans. Theres all the set up for a parasocial punchline but instead it goes into this very rigorously planned routine instead, then ends with a non-sequitor. The final gag parallels his refusal to engage with an overly confessional style. I get it because I like him more than you, which makes me more geniuser.
I did like him saying “he couldn’t afford jazz due to Brexit copyright issues” and brought on a Jazz sax 🎷 player at the end. That was a great (hidden) joke.
I saw this live in Sheffield and the audience members turning up late was part of the routine, as was the empty chairs as Lee riffed with someone sitting next to the empty chair about who was supposed to be there. I suspect the chairs were left deliberately empty for this reason.
The more i watch it, the better it gets. And it was very good on the first viewing. I think it's his best yet. "Don't come and see me if you don't know what anything is" 😂
I see Basic Lee as a retrospective piece, a clever best-of mixtape of various pieces from his career and a their recontextualization. Therefore I didn’t see the familiar routines as disappointing due to a lack of novelty, but rather as a thankful reestablisment. (Also, I have impaired memory, so I get a feeling of curious surprise even in a yesterday’s weather forecast.)
The part where he's telling the audience to imagine jazz was one of my favourite parts of the show. I didn't think it was repetitive, or dragged, because he was elaborating it continuously with really good gags about the exact nature of the imaginary jazz. And I loved the silly surrealness of it and the way he was berating the audience. Overall I don't care about the structure or themes or cohesiveness of his shows, none of that affects how funny I find the actual routines and gags that make up the shows. I thought Basic Lee was on a par with anything else he's done, at least in terms of being consistently funny. He does seem a bit more mellow compared to the anger he had when younger but maybe that's a purely physical result of being older, his voice and mannerisms may have changed a bit and seem less aggressive maybe.
He realised we all watch short clips on UA-cam, so could do a set basically about his old routines. I did see this live and the recorded version is much more complete.
It's much better than the tornado stuff. Lee would probably hate me for how I lean politically and he can get a bit too circlejerky but he's easily my favourite stand up of all time. His bit about introducing a woman on stage was hilarious, I had to watch it twice.
Basic Lee seemed to be a greatest hits reference album. But looking forward to his new set. Not quite sure how his maybe autism matches up with his always manning the merch desk after his gigs and interacting warmly with his audience
Autism doesn't always mean being crowd & interaction phobic. I have a very gregarious autistic friend. His issue is obsession with specific topics 'du jour' which he will repeat relentlessly to anyone who will listen (and also to those who don't).
I'm a teacher who can lecture a room full of people, interact with hundreds of people a day, yet I still have autism. We aren't unable to interact warmly so I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion that we can't.
Seeing him live makes a big difference. I've always liked his stuff, but when you see him live it's almost as if he's doing all of it just for that audience on that night, even though you know that's bollocks. And he gives it to you straight...
The Wrekin is a mountain (well, hill) in Shropshire. 'Round the Wrekin' is an expression meaning taking the long route to do something. Only I knew what the outside shots were a reference to and I had to explain this as I assume no one else knew because I, like Lee, am a genius.
Thought it was good but not great. But I don’t think we should always expect every show needs to improve on the last one - he is a content provider doing a two hour show every couple of years, and they are consistently high quality. That’s all he needs (to pay his mortgage) and it’s all we need (to keep us engaged). He’s like a jazz musician churning out albums who has mastered the business of his craft, rather than an experimental artist always pushing the boundaries.
I started to feel the familiarity around 2017 and drifted away....and then came back and started to see things in those earlier works that made the present exciting again. I really rated Snowflake/Tornado as it goes. Looking into his act forensically is good, but also I think I learned a few things about where he's drawing from in terms of influence that helped guide me through some of the bits I previously didn't quite get.
If you want to know how quick Stewart Lee is, the bit in this show about his special being cancelled due to the Queen’s death and watching the film that was put in its place (not mentioning more details for spoilers about the punchline which is in this great video essay)…. He wrote it during the first weekend after her death and perform it the week after her death. I know because I was there at the Bill Murray’s Comedy club with a crowd of 30 people at his first performance during that week, with him having to check his notes and hands as he work the first draft and tried a joke about where he was when the Queen’s death was announced which was so dark he paused the routine to admit that he will properly never say that joke again (It was very dark 😂) And what was amazing was seeing it still in the show on his tour’s last week performances at the national theatre on the Southbank in a stage with 1000s of people, and that the person in front of me was also at the show at the Bill Murray also in shock that we had seen the first performance of material created by Stewart Lee. Also I cried during the first performance when I released it was an opening admission on him realising his Autism Spectrum Disorder (as someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD it really touched me, and he later changed during the tour of saying ASD to a more open and vague “neurodivergent” term to keep the vagueness of his diagnosed and I think you are right that he wants it to be vague and hidden), and given what has happened in his private life, it’s the most open he has been as a performer.
From the other side of the argument, I’d never heard of Stewart Lee until I saw your Acaster video and Basic Lee is a really great into to Lee for people who haven’t seen his older material.
So, I picked up on the autism thing as he started talking about it and found it funny but unable to laugh, as now it made so much sense as to why I like his comedy so much, but also why it is as it is. I spoke to him afterwards (Oxford Playhouse show in 2023 I think?) and he said he had actually gone to the doctor about it, however a diagnosis at his age is pointless as you'd be essentially taking up a slot for people who need it more (younger people), and it would take over a year anyway (the waiting list when I asked was 18 months...).
I have listened to the new special many times... Highlighting its strength! I try to pass through the 10 minute 'jazz in your head' bit now. None of the rest of it. I love the 'good night' bit!
Lmao I must admit the jazz meandering at the end of the special was my favourite bit, was even better live, just couldn’t stop laughing, ironically from what I remember when I saw it, he was still working the special out at the Leicester Square theatre and the jazz bit was like twice as long as it ended up being in the recording xD
Lee carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He gets how totally broken and pointless it is, with its endless suffering, and has decided that while he cannot fix it, he will do everything in his power to make the biggest possible contribution to helping the rest of us laugh our woes away from time to time. However, in an altruistic sense, he does not want to take any praise or credit for it. So he does it in the role of a thoroughly unlikable character.
Yes it’s very good, and the clue of the theme is in the title. He explores lots of comedy tropes and goofs around with them (crowd work). He drives it perfectly. I don’t think it’s a critique of stand up at all, he done that 20 years ago. It’s actually meat and potatoes stuff, just having a little frolic through the art form.
I've watched this through now, several times, and the final sequence between 'the producer's rebuff' and the 'autistic' affirmation) is something which I buy totally as shockingly sincere and moving. Shifting the self-deprecatory focus between bathos and pathos is a rhetorical trick reluctantly familiar to outsiders of all stripes - 'spectrum' lurkers and shirkers, maladroit frustratees and (in my case) stammerers alike. Reinventing one's own pain - on the fly - is another coping mechanism.
The whole last bit of the show seems to me to be about his famous quip that his shows are more like jazz than comedy. I agree with you that the whole thing seemed a but less innovative… more like a distilled version of his previous work. Fair enough, with his mortgage and doctors’ bills and all.
I disagree with what you say around 12:30 in... I think the whole bit is that it IS such an obvious set up. It is funny precisely because we all know it definitely got a laugh everywhere else. It is silly and obvious. For me the joke is the very idea that he would do such a clearly planned routine and expect the audience to think it was organic.
I loved this show. Anything the man does is a joy for me. Yet having seen similar routines, with similar pacing and similarly predictable audience deprecation bits for years now, I'm ready to see something very different.
He's utterly peerless. He is to comedy, what Radiohead are to music. Considered pretentious by some. Recognised as the greatest by their contemporaries.
The phrase "But doctor, I am Stewart Lee" is a reference to a famous joke and a poignant moment in literature, particularly from a story about the character Pagliacci, a sad clown. The line suggests a deep irony: the clown, who is supposed to make others laugh, is actually feeling profound sadness and despair himself. This line is often used to illustrate the idea that people who appear joyful on the outside may be hiding their inner pain. It underscores themes of mental health and the complexity of human emotions, highlighting that those who entertain others may struggle with their own issues. The phrase is especially known from a joke told by the comedian Louis C.K. and is rooted in the broader cultural understanding of the tragicomic nature of life. So, now you know.
dude your review is on stewart's website now xD under "FROM THE WOKE CESSPIT OF STEWART LEE - DEC 2024 Regularly Returning The Sausage Since 1968" and he complimented it
The prince andrew bit also evokes Princess diana setup and Scooby doo routien getting people to go on and imagine that reality. Again retreading his older material
I think the jazz bit may actually be a case of trying to take the bit beyond its bounds. I found it deeply enjoyable when I saw it the first time (live), and genuinely did try to imagine my own jazz. As a result, the toppers about the kind of jazz we were to imagine were riffs on what I was imagining. When I rewatched it, I didn't bother trying to imagine my own jazz and, like you, zoned out a bit. At the risk of sounding too much like a Stewart Lee fan, it does feel like his bit about "having to put the work in" as an audience. Which is interesting as a kind of comedy experiment, but can have diminishing returns. In the end, comedy should be entertainment.
Very much take your points about the fact that it is like a parody of a Stewart Lee bit, and that he doesn't actually continue as if the audience is imagining jazz. It does feel somewhat out of place.
" No more Stewart Lee!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Imagine having to chastise yourself for being too obsessed with Stewart Lee. A ridiculous situation. That is what makes the line funny.
He's a genius. And so am I, because I like him.
impeccably reasoned.
I like your comment AND Stewart Lee, so I’m even cleverer.
I am agreeing with you ironically while explicitly observing that I am doing so. This locates me in a realm beyond human achievement.
Which is one of his bit’s.
He is completely self aware of this label & mocks it.
@@jaybot303functionerror4really? I hadn't considered that at all
You made Stewart Lee’s newsletter with a review of your review that reads: “Here is a thorough, and not entirely positive, review from a thoughtful young man on UA-cam, still better than most pro-critics.”
That's how I ended up here the stalinist desk
I never knew I was a genius until I watched Stewart Lee.
"Knee-length blazer"?? That is a '50s-style drape jacket as worn by the Teddy Boys and a nod to his own comedy hero Ted Chippington who used to wear one on stage. Can't BELIEVE you didn't know that...
Goofy af though. Regardless.
It's a blazer expertly chosen to hide the fact that he's now 30 stone. And it does it so well!
It's the velvet trimmings that mark his attire as a "Drape".
That Ted Bovis has let himself go.
@@dgoo8294Goofy ahh, ion even finna.
I was very lucky to see Lee in London one time when there happened to be a huge snow storm, and only half the aidience showed up, and they were just not into it at all. He ended up dropping the whole routine and walked off stage and into the crowd and did the whole next hour just in the audience. And he worked them and worked them until by the last ten minutes everyone was absolutely dying from laughter. It was an absolute masterclass for me as an aspiring writer.
It felt like in a way, having not the immediate live from the audience and then abandoning the material allowed for a absolute raw early club days type of experience.
I was actually surprised (unless I missed it) that he left out something from when I saw him: after doing some crowd work he mentions that he's become that good that he can make something entirely planned seem spontaneous, that he has blueprints that can be applied to basically any interaction, which I felt lent to the overall theme. As an autistic person myself I read this as being a metaphor for masking/constantly attempting to indulge in new things before inevitably assuming comfortable routines.
Same conclusion, and I am not (officially) autistic.
I went to see it in London at the start of the year. We had a conversation about comics in the middle of the show and I got an applause because I’m a genius
I showed up only slightly late to a Stewart Lee gig once, and the stewards were under order to hold us back till he'd done his first few jokes so that the late comers entered the room at the exact moment he needed them to. That's how heavily structured his shows are.
I mean, the start time is given on the ticket, the website and if you phone them up they'll also tell you down the phone into your ear. Yet. There you were. Late. 🙂
@@Surv1ve_Thrive The Stewart Lee Stewards have let myself go in.
@@EmperorSmith Ah yes. Blame them. Johnny Come Late Lee.
Were you Ang Lee?
At our local theatre the "Steward Lee's" do a 3 hour Stewart Lee awareness training session to understand the purpose of the theatrical "hold back"...
Lee's 'observational comedy' running around is greeted by the audience as a familiar old friend, like a call back to a previous joke, in this case from another show. He keeps it very short, enough for the audience to enjoy the familiarity, without milking it. It's similar to the audience's love of the 'raise your game' style of 'Stewart Lee's' attacks on the audience's 'ineptitude'. His best observational comedy joke remains 'I haven't noticed anything about your lives'.
Basic Lee in Kingston upon Thames was interesting. The ending was better and slightly different than the Lowry version, and different and slightly better. As well as being slightly better and different. And I liked it. But then I am a genuis, and our audience doesn't need everything explained in fine detail like you do in the north.
It's 'different from' not different than. Get thissen to a Northern Grammar school.
Lee loves playing in Kingston.
so it was better and slightly different and also different and slightly better?
@christheghostwriter Yes, but more than that. You know? It was better than slightly different. Perhaps I should have made that clear.
I first met Stewart Lee at my local sperm bank. He emerged from the cubical cup in hand and passed me his copy of Razzle. He recommended a story in the readers wives section. He said it had hidden depths, duality of meaning, and a plot twist that he didnt see coming until he did.
@Yossarian. See! You can write jokes, you just choose not to.
@mattydare
Well, I would. But that would be beneath me, and it would be beneath you.
honestly, i found the jazz bit beautiful, it felt less "just repeating a phrase until it becomes funny" and more like a person digging themselves in a hole, no one is pushing back but he keeps "haggling" with an imaginary audience
also i think the "you fed them those berries" is a reference to his old joke about his grandfather feeding crisps to his old army buddies and them all dying?, its pretty much the same joke with a different noun but with no setup
Oh wow I didn’t think of that. Did it work for you as a finale? The jazz bit was my favourite part of the show. It reminded me a bit of him smacking the mic on the stand in 41st Best but with more play and musicality. Thanks for the comment :)
@@ComedyWithoutErrors Ah lad, come on now, he's done that berry joke since forever. No offence but I think you'd be better off doing reaction videos rather than these in-depth, Team-B-ass critiques.
This is the best show I've ever seen him do live. The recording missed about 30% of the magic. I was suspicious of everything taking place in the theatre and onstage.
I refuse to believe a flickering stage light was an actual technical error, but instead planned psychological warfare.
His joke about there being "no point writing jokes about Sunak, he wont be around long enough. It would be like trying to befriend a disposable barbecue" got me so good I spat coffee across the room.
Always a risk having any liquids around while watching Lee
Yup!!
Sunak, as an unelected foreigner, has many things to joke about.
His ethnicity first and foremost amongst them.
The number of people who seem to spit drinks out at UA-cam videos is ridiculously high.
I can't wait for the inevitable Stewart Lee bit calling out all these people who seem to spit fluids out at a joke, and then have everyone claim they never said they did that.
Nobody does that, no you didn't spit out your coffee.
@@soilcredibility have you seriously never done or seen an honest spit take?
@@Skippymabob yeah we all have mate but the frequency of the claim would have you believe that people watch comedy with a permanent mouth full of coffee, it's always coffee too isn't it for some reason, never beer, never sprite or peach kombucha is it? The bigger likelihood is that people are just parroting a thing they've heard others say. I've probably actually spit drink out from being caught off guard less than 10 times in my entire life and it's usually not when im watching comedy shows or stand-up, because i sort of expect to laugh when im watching those. Do you not expect to laugh when you watch comedians doing comedy?
Imagine how silly it would be if there was a standup called Stan Dupp. That would be fucked. People wouldn’t be able to handle it
In Polish Stan Dup means the State/quality of the asses
It sure would make me AngLee.
The "imagine jazz" routine is one of my all time favourites.
"I wish I was dead Bill Hicks."
Love him. The superior character he plays making everyone feel less than him is so funny in itself
Great review, I’ve watched it 4-5 times and though it’s excellent (I particularly liked his version of crowd work in this one), I had similar feelings in regard to material being recycled. The overall message being too concealed in this special I agree with, as until now I hadn’t ever considered the neuro-divergent diagnosis stuff as being anything grounded in reality, but now you’ve pointed out the potential meaning of those cut-aways I think I might need to rewatch it through that lens as clearly I didn’t get it. “Don’t come and see me if you don’t know what anything is.”
PS: Not sure how you’d go about reviewing it but Sam Campbell - Companion is fantastic.
Even the message I pulled out of it was after really trying to analyse and think about it. It’s very very ambiguous. Glad you agree, there’s always a fear I missed something haha
Sam Campbell is a great shout! Was thinking of talking about Eric Andre’s special ‘Legalise Everything’ and what makes good absurdist/surreal comedy. Campbell is a great example of an absolute oddball who delivers insane comedy while understanding how jokes work. Appreciate the comment ;)
I watched it 6-7 times, making me more clever.
@@ComedyWithoutErrors
Wtf are you two talking about -- "The Message"? It's fucking comedy -- that's tge message. Lee must be chuckling away at dorks like you. As Dylan (and some others) have said, "What people get from my music is nothing to do with me".
I quite liked him shouting out The Fall during the jazz bit.
The second half of basic Lee (in Salford on my specific night) was genius
I've had better full-belly laughs from other comedians, but of all the comedy "bits" I remember and think about long afterwards, a lot of them are Stewart Lee bits.
My imaginary black wife says exactly the same
@@highdownmartinnot like my Irish wife.
I like him because he gives it to us straight
like a pear cider.. blah blah blah, rhythm of a joke.
literally just traveling back from my weekly comedy club volunteering, excited about comedy, and needed a stand up video. thank you josh
Wait, does this mean that Stewart Lee is actually letting himself go?
*Slobodan Milošević
Morrissey
Miriam Margolyes
Post-punk Bilbo Baggins has let himself go.
I had to scroll too far for this.
Re: Lee needing to mix things up for his next special, iirc it's a show in which he's a comic book hero fighting something called the Man-Wulf. So i guess he's got you covered there.
Indeed, Stu's next special is titled _STEWART LEE vs THE MAN-WULF_ and there's nothing I'm looking forward to seeing more. From his website:
> Lee shares his stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity.
Thats quite exciting does anyone remember when Lee helped out Baconface do some surprise shows. Shadowed in secrecy. Never got to see one myself but everyone raved about it
'Yeah see ya mate' is also from a Fall song - Cnc-s Mithering - a band he loves.
The sound of an audience cheering their own ability to remember an old routine of Lee's.
A very thoughtful review indeed. Having seen Basic Lee earlier in the tour made me recognise just how much he leaned into audience interraction, as the televised special was very different to the show I attended. And not just because some material evolved.
And yes, parts of his routine seemed like perfunctory revist of his greatest hits, with his "All the (insert object)..." routine lacking the perfect comedic timing of past performances.
But still, "he's a genius, yah"...
I find that I often get treated far more seriously and with more reverence when I wear my t-shirt with the slogan, "I get Stewart Lee." Emblazoned on both sides.
Just got a shoutout from the big man himself in his newsletter. Great review.
Saw his Man Wulf just before Xmas at a matinee, It is something else, felt like Bacon face was back at times. The afternoon audience were not with him for much of it, despite Stew's huge efforts in this show. Therefore when he just stopped mid-sentence and called us all "Christmas C***ts" it felt justified and we all felt responsible. Best show of his I have seen for a while.
As a jazz fan I enjoyed the jazz bit, if only because all the references are extremely accurate (except for ending a piece with a diminished 7th chord)
Was wondering if a diminished 7th is a dominant 7th that has let itself go.
@@paulembleton1733 sounds a bit sus2
The diminished line proved that he is in fact human but the rest of that bit is hilariously accurate
@paulembleton1733 I love four part chords. I love all the four part chords.
Minor 7th...
All the four part chords
Stewart Lee saying, as if he were somebody else;" Stewart Lee's a genius; I like him, and that makes me a genius" is mind bogglingly self aware and at the same time, incredibly self critical. Yes, it's clever to trade in duality, but this material is so on the money. I'm feeling stuff about myself, my values, my beliefs, MY self worth. I like him; Stewart Lee's a genius.
You're missing the filmed parts in which he's standing outside the orphanage where he spent his infanthood. That's the key bit you're looking for.
Is that what that is?! I googled the building and the result I got was a nursing home haha
Yep, at least that's my take on it. Have you watched King Rocker? There's a part in it where he's standing outside the same place. Making that film brought him back to the place for the first time since he was a tiny baby. He jokes how he's found himself using this devastating moment only as an emotional set piece for the film instead of dealing with the weight of the reality of it.
I missed that. I thought he'd just had an abortion and was walking away, depressed
@@BLINDTUBEMARES That would be for the best at his age really. He'd never fully recover, his pelvic floor would be in tatters.
17:00 - I've only watched the show once, but here's what I remembered when you said that: somewhere in the beginning, he mentions that the audience will see the quality change in delivery. And if this change never comes, then he's made a joke on himself (and knowing Lee's persona, we have to assume that it's deliberate)... Well, we, humans, are able to interpret everything as anything, so... Lee's got us here. But he's a genius because everyone could have done that before him, but he was the first one... Well, except for looking into the camera
As a comedian who does material about autism (although in my case, very openly), and takes a lot of inspiration from Lee, this show resonated with me on an incredibly deep level. Although, I see how someone without autism or at least an understanding of neurodiversity, could see the show as a series of disconnected ramblings. Conversely, for this reason, I actually really liked the "Imagine Jazz" routine. I think sometimes, as comedians we can fall into the trap of writing jokes purely for ourselves or at least people like us, not realising that not everyone will be able to empathise with our experiences. I'm still trying to find that balance between doing jokes about autism, and making my comedy relatable to audiences. It's an interesting challenge 😂
It was just one man, one microphone. Pure, simple, classic.
I’m in my late sixties & agree Stewart Lee is without doubt The Best Stand up I’ve ever heard in last 60 years! 🎯 👍
Disagree with your obvious struggle to criticise him.😃
That was great, thank you. The “………Well done.” (9:09) 😂👌
Richard herrings dad has let himself go
Keith?
Glad to hear someone felt similarly. I thought Carpet Remnants was almost the peak of his career, with Content Provider being the polish of that. But after that, it got a bit too familiar, and a bit opaque.
The Thatcher/Scooby Doo/Chicken routine from Carpet Remnants made my face ache from laughing and being so immersed.
Terry Christian has let himself go
I feel like he's maybe spearing the confessional comic stylings that became popular among millenial and gen z comics and fans. Theres all the set up for a parasocial punchline but instead it goes into this very rigorously planned routine instead, then ends with a non-sequitor. The final gag parallels his refusal to engage with an overly confessional style.
I get it because I like him more than you, which makes me more geniuser.
I did like him saying “he couldn’t afford jazz due to Brexit copyright issues” and brought on a Jazz sax 🎷 player at the end. That was a great (hidden) joke.
I saw this live in Sheffield and the audience members turning up late was part of the routine, as was the empty chairs as Lee riffed with someone sitting next to the empty chair about who was supposed to be there. I suspect the chairs were left deliberately empty for this reason.
The more i watch it, the better it gets. And it was very good on the first viewing. I think it's his best yet. "Don't come and see me if you don't know what anything is" 😂
I see Basic Lee as a retrospective piece, a clever best-of mixtape of various pieces from his career and a their recontextualization. Therefore I didn’t see the familiar routines as disappointing due to a lack of novelty, but rather as a thankful reestablisment. (Also, I have impaired memory, so I get a feeling of curious surprise even in a yesterday’s weather forecast.)
The part where he's telling the audience to imagine jazz was one of my favourite parts of the show. I didn't think it was repetitive, or dragged, because he was elaborating it continuously with really good gags about the exact nature of the imaginary jazz. And I loved the silly surrealness of it and the way he was berating the audience.
Overall I don't care about the structure or themes or cohesiveness of his shows, none of that affects how funny I find the actual routines and gags that make up the shows. I thought Basic Lee was on a par with anything else he's done, at least in terms of being consistently funny. He does seem a bit more mellow compared to the anger he had when younger but maybe that's a purely physical result of being older, his voice and mannerisms may have changed a bit and seem less aggressive maybe.
He realised we all watch short clips on UA-cam, so could do a set basically about his old routines. I did see this live and the recorded version is much more complete.
It's much better than the tornado stuff.
Lee would probably hate me for how I lean politically and he can get a bit too circlejerky but he's easily my favourite stand up of all time.
His bit about introducing a woman on stage was hilarious, I had to watch it twice.
One of the greats of standing up comedy, equal almost to Sir Jim Davidson (nic, nic, Chalky).
I prefered listening to Stewart Lee making me laugh rather than you telling me why I shouldn't have
I wish I liked Stewie a bit more, but I'm neither clever nor ironic enough. Still, it's enough for me just to smile in a self-conscious stylee.
Basic Lee seemed to be a greatest hits reference album. But looking forward to his new set. Not quite sure how his maybe autism matches up with his always manning the merch desk after his gigs and interacting warmly with his audience
Autism doesn't always mean being crowd & interaction phobic. I have a very gregarious autistic friend. His issue is obsession with specific topics 'du jour' which he will repeat relentlessly to anyone who will listen (and also to those who don't).
I'm a teacher who can lecture a room full of people, interact with hundreds of people a day, yet I still have autism. We aren't unable to interact warmly so I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion that we can't.
“See yer mate, yeah see yer mate” - nice to see a reference to the Fall in there
Seeing him live makes a big difference. I've always liked his stuff, but when you see him live it's almost as if he's doing all of it just for that audience on that night, even though you know that's bollocks.
And he gives it to you straight...
The Wrekin is a mountain (well, hill) in Shropshire. 'Round the Wrekin' is an expression meaning taking the long route to do something.
Only I knew what the outside shots were a reference to and I had to explain this as I assume no one else knew because I, like Lee, am a genius.
Thought it was good but not great. But I don’t think we should always expect every show needs to improve on the last one - he is a content provider doing a two hour show every couple of years, and they are consistently high quality. That’s all he needs (to pay his mortgage) and it’s all we need (to keep us engaged). He’s like a jazz musician churning out albums who has mastered the business of his craft, rather than an experimental artist always pushing the boundaries.
I live in a shithole and am grateful for the fact that he comes to visit every couple of years…
Wow, this articulates so many things about Stewart Leee I'd struggle to put to words very well. Really nice.
really thorough- nicely done mate xx
Will be very interested to see what you think of Lee vs The Man-Wulf, watched it at Leicester sq theatre a couple weeks ago.
I started to feel the familiarity around 2017 and drifted away....and then came back and started to see things in those earlier works that made the present exciting again. I really rated Snowflake/Tornado as it goes. Looking into his act forensically is good, but also I think I learned a few things about where he's drawing from in terms of influence that helped guide me through some of the bits I previously didn't quite get.
oh wait I am on that comedy forum and in that thread too!
If you want to know how quick Stewart Lee is, the bit in this show about his special being cancelled due to the Queen’s death and watching the film that was put in its place (not mentioning more details for spoilers about the punchline which is in this great video essay)….
He wrote it during the first weekend after her death and perform it the week after her death. I know because I was there at the Bill Murray’s Comedy club with a crowd of 30 people at his first performance during that week, with him having to check his notes and hands as he work the first draft and tried a joke about where he was when the Queen’s death was announced which was so dark he paused the routine to admit that he will properly never say that joke again (It was very dark 😂)
And what was amazing was seeing it still in the show on his tour’s last week performances at the national theatre on the Southbank in a stage with 1000s of people, and that the person in front of me was also at the show at the Bill Murray also in shock that we had seen the first performance of material created by Stewart Lee.
Also I cried during the first performance when I released it was an opening admission on him realising his Autism Spectrum Disorder (as someone with Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD it really touched me, and he later changed during the tour of saying ASD to a more open and vague “neurodivergent” term to keep the vagueness of his diagnosed and I think you are right that he wants it to be vague and hidden), and given what has happened in his private life, it’s the most open he has been as a performer.
Very long
Check out this guy, going to small comedy clubs with small audiences, what a hero.
@@soilcredibility ...for £6 usually, and normally funnier / more personal than an arena/theatre
From the other side of the argument, I’d never heard of Stewart Lee until I saw your Acaster video and Basic Lee is a really great into to Lee for people who haven’t seen his older material.
The scene somberly walking away from a care home is mocking the Ricky Gervais show Afterlife.
So, I picked up on the autism thing as he started talking about it and found it funny but unable to laugh, as now it made so much sense as to why I like his comedy so much, but also why it is as it is. I spoke to him afterwards (Oxford Playhouse show in 2023 I think?) and he said he had actually gone to the doctor about it, however a diagnosis at his age is pointless as you'd be essentially taking up a slot for people who need it more (younger people), and it would take over a year anyway (the waiting list when I asked was 18 months...).
I have listened to the new special many times... Highlighting its strength!
I try to pass through the 10 minute 'jazz in your head' bit now. None of the rest of it.
I love the 'good night' bit!
Great stand up routine, almost equal to Roy Cubby Brown at his best. Another misunderstood stand up genius, threading his comedy throughout.
Roy Cubby Brocolli?
@williamdew7143 Her too.
@@williamdew7143Roy Cubby Broccoli invented Broccoli by crossing a cabbage with a Cauliflower. True story.
@@sargonsblackgrandfather2072 Ah, the old 'Italian asparagus' of yore.
Lmao I must admit the jazz meandering at the end of the special was my favourite bit, was even better live, just couldn’t stop laughing, ironically from what I remember when I saw it, he was still working the special out at the Leicester Square theatre and the jazz bit was like twice as long as it ended up being in the recording xD
I loved the jazz riff because I understood the references.
Totally underrated comedian
Are you going to do a version with added microphone scraping noises?
I wondered if he planned for people to come in late the second time so that he could deliver the gag about repetition.
Lee carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He gets how totally broken and pointless it is, with its endless suffering, and has decided that while he cannot fix it, he will do everything in his power to make the biggest possible contribution to helping the rest of us laugh our woes away from time to time. However, in an altruistic sense, he does not want to take any praise or credit for it. So he does it in the role of a thoroughly unlikable character.
He also carries it on his hips, back, legs and feet.
It's more art than comedy.
It's like jazz... 😂
Yes.. Modern art. Ie pretentious wank.
Best bit is where he does an impersonation of me recommending the special.
Great show
Yes it’s very good, and the clue of the theme is in the title. He explores lots of comedy tropes and goofs around with them (crowd work). He drives it perfectly.
I don’t think it’s a critique of stand up at all, he done that 20 years ago. It’s actually meat and potatoes stuff, just having a little frolic through the art form.
I've watched this through now, several times, and the final sequence between 'the producer's rebuff' and the 'autistic' affirmation) is something which I buy totally as shockingly sincere and moving.
Shifting the self-deprecatory focus between bathos and pathos is a rhetorical trick reluctantly familiar to outsiders of all stripes - 'spectrum' lurkers and shirkers, maladroit frustratees and (in my case) stammerers alike.
Reinventing one's own pain - on the fly - is another coping mechanism.
Yes, I agree with this narrator, in that, Lee should try to "deliver" the questions, rather just asking them.. Fair point well made Sir.
The whole last bit of the show seems to me to be about his famous quip that his shows are more like jazz than comedy. I agree with you that the whole thing seemed a but less innovative… more like a distilled version of his previous work. Fair enough, with his mortgage and doctors’ bills and all.
Thing is if you'd bothered to imagine some light jazz that part would have been more fun for you
I disagree with what you say around 12:30 in... I think the whole bit is that it IS such an obvious set up. It is funny precisely because we all know it definitely got a laugh everywhere else. It is silly and obvious. For me the joke is the very idea that he would do such a clearly planned routine and expect the audience to think it was organic.
my only qualification is that I have watched the whole special around 20 times
I loved this show. Anything the man does is a joy for me. Yet having seen similar routines, with similar pacing and similarly predictable audience deprecation bits for years now, I'm ready to see something very different.
That jumper! Where did you get it from??
He's utterly peerless. He is to comedy, what Radiohead are to music. Considered pretentious by some. Recognised as the greatest by their contemporaries.
You sound insufferable, and so am I cos I love them too.
Radiohead?! The greatest? Which peers?:)
@@timhall3575I think you both misspelled *Aphex Twin
Daniel Kitson has entered the chat.
@@clarseconscious That's now how you spell GWAR.
that was a thoughtful critique, appreciated your take
The phrase "But doctor, I am Stewart Lee" is a reference to a famous joke and a poignant moment in literature, particularly from a story about the character Pagliacci, a sad clown. The line suggests a deep irony: the clown, who is supposed to make others laugh, is actually feeling profound sadness and despair himself.
This line is often used to illustrate the idea that people who appear joyful on the outside may be hiding their inner pain. It underscores themes of mental health and the complexity of human emotions, highlighting that those who entertain others may struggle with their own issues. The phrase is especially known from a joke told by the comedian Louis C.K. and is rooted in the broader cultural understanding of the tragicomic nature of life. So, now you know.
"Don't come and see me if you don't know what anything is."
dude your review is on stewart's website now xD under "FROM THE WOKE CESSPIT OF STEWART LEE - DEC 2024 Regularly Returning The Sausage Since 1968" and he complimented it
Stewart Lee has ruined almost all other comedians for me. . He still hasn’t apologized for that yet...
Freddie starr has let himself go
Former Danish primeminister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has let himself go…
Erving Goffman would of liked this
Im going to see him in Dec for the 8th time. There's a reason for that....he's a fucking genius....it really is that simple.
The prince andrew bit also evokes Princess diana setup and Scooby doo routien getting people to go on and imagine that reality. Again retreading his older material
I think the jazz bit may actually be a case of trying to take the bit beyond its bounds. I found it deeply enjoyable when I saw it the first time (live), and genuinely did try to imagine my own jazz. As a result, the toppers about the kind of jazz we were to imagine were riffs on what I was imagining. When I rewatched it, I didn't bother trying to imagine my own jazz and, like you, zoned out a bit. At the risk of sounding too much like a Stewart Lee fan, it does feel like his bit about "having to put the work in" as an audience. Which is interesting as a kind of comedy experiment, but can have diminishing returns. In the end, comedy should be entertainment.
Very much take your points about the fact that it is like a parody of a Stewart Lee bit, and that he doesn't actually continue as if the audience is imagining jazz. It does feel somewhat out of place.
As a neurodivergent person, my theory is that the entire show is actually about the moment when he got his diagnosis
" No more Stewart Lee!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Imagine having to chastise yourself for being too obsessed with Stewart Lee. A ridiculous situation. That is what makes the line funny.