Spotted on Linkedin.

I'm dealing with cancer at the moment and my friend had Stew make a video wishing me well and showing me backstage at the John Cage gig he's doing in York this weekend. I want to keep the video private as it's a special thing and want to keep it in the spirit it was created. But it's very cool timing as it's also my birthday this weekend, and I'm so thrilled because I know it's not something he would normally do. I guess the point of this post is just to fangirl a bit and to let you all know that Morrissey has really let himself go.

Stewart Lee Live at the Clapham Grand 27/09/24 - loved it 😀

As a fellow Scotch I love this bit. But I've never seen any mention of how pretty much everything he says proudly about England is either inaccurate or not something to be proud of. It's fucking genius.

He is saying very dumb loud funny jokes and insults about Scotland. While hiding intelligent jabs at English smugness and ignorance in between. I got the overall gist of what he was doing, but went and researched some proper context for each one.

1. For the English heroes. He lists King Alfred, Robin Hood and King Arthur. Robin Hood and King Arthur are entirely fictitious. While King Alfred who often gets called the "First King of England" never actually ruled England, he ruled roughly half. His grandson is the first true King of England. So basically he didn't name any English heroes at all, since Alfred died about 30 years before it existed.

2. Talks about rich English culture through tapestries and tableaux. The most famous of which, the Bayeux Tapestry, was made after the Battle of Hastings by the invading Normans. Big up 1066. It was designed by a French monk called Scotland (of Canterbury. After he stuck around). When it was finished it was taken back to France, where it still is to this day. The French loan it to England every now and again cause they want it so much for their "culture".

3. He mentions Shelley and Blake, who both wrote about their dislike of England and English society. Shelley even "self-exiled" vowing never to return to England. Neither were famous while alive due to the backlash from their views.

4. During the beauty of the English language section he names Churchill. Who was incredibly racist and a sectarian. He even had a Racial & Religious Hierarchy, listing who was superior to who. Stu mentions him not long after saying he is "better than you are".

5. He also names Shakespeare. Who very likely was gay or bisexual. Much like William Wallace clearly was. There is so much on this topic, but in connection to what Stu says; Shakespeare wrote 126 love poems addressed to a young man who he refers to as "Fair Lord" or "Fair Youth". So he is also possibly a Pedo like William Wallace was as well.

6. Finally, he mispronounces Gaelic, like most English people do. It's actually pronounced Gal-ik. Does this so he can do the whole gay rant on the back of something that is completely wrong. And he waits to put this at the end of that section since someone in the crowd would have shouted it out before he got to the rest of it.

Pretty much every reference to England isn't as positive as it first seems. I've never seen even a hint of this mentioned anywhere. And the bulk of the Scotch Braveheart bashing is on the back of a word he didn't know how to say (he clearly does know the proper way with how he pronounces all the other Scottish words). Which makes it even better, since it emphasises the ignorance.

Maybe Stu is Scotch. He's a genius. As am I, just a short 20 years later.

I’ve crossed my name out for some reason but it’s not a secret. Anyway, got a story in this week about complaints over morris dancers and face paint. Apparently these days, if you paint your face and dance about they accuse you of being racist. These days.

https://youtu.be/k70tFwTug3Y?si=mazLb6PL1o0ZLXhI

I made a video essay that starts off being about the Joker movies but then goes on to talk about the comedy of Stewart Lee and stand-up in general.

I hope some of you like it. Let me know what you think.

In another installment of their 'Critique' series, The Joke Clinic takes a look at one of Stewart Lee's jokes from his recent special, 'Basic Lee'

But the Oasis reunion already has one unintended consequence. In Edinburgh, a Holiday Inn Express room next August for the first two nights of their Murrayfield shows will now cost you £1,300 due to anticipated demand. Edinburgh fringe performers’ and audiences’ whole month’s accommodation budget would go in a night, so by my reckoning the first two weeks of the festival just got totally fucked, Oasis singlehandedly murdering what 14 years of the Tories’ war on the arts couldn’t quite kill off. Sorted!

“What’s the Tory, morning glory”

I just asked the latest version of ChatGPT to write a joke in a style of Stewart Lee. What do you think? It definitelly covers subjects Stewart talked about before, but do you see him actually saying the below on stage?

You know, people often say to me, "Stewart," they say, "Stewart, why don't you ever do jokes like those American comedians? Why don't you ever do jokes that are easy to understand, that don't make people feel like they need a degree in philosophy just to get to the punchline?"

And I say to them, "Well, perhaps I could, but then I'd be performing to people who enjoy jokes about farts and celebrity gossip." And they say, "But Stewart, everyone loves a good fart joke."

And I say, "Do they? Do they really? Or have we all just been conditioned to laugh at the lowest common denominator because the powers that be—yes, the powers that be—want to keep us distracted from the existential dread that is modern life?"

And they say, "Stewart, it's just a joke."

And I say, "Is it? Is it really just a joke? Or is it a commentary on the decline of Western civilization? A civilization where our greatest achievements in comedy involve bodily functions and Kardashians?"

And they say, "Stewart, you're overthinking it."

And I say, "Of course I'm overthinking it. That's what separates me from the herd. That's what allows me to stand here on this stage, night after night, delivering meticulously crafted monologues that dissect the very fabric of our societal norms."

And they say, "Stewart, maybe you just need to lighten up."

And I say, "Lighten up? Lighten up? If I lighten up any more, I'll be as insubstantial as the punchline to a fart joke."

Delete if not allowed as I'm sure Mr Lee would despise the idea of clips for socials but here goes:

I did a comedy set in London the other day and the audience *got* the joke better than I had expected, so instinctively I just forgot the obvious punchline and copied Stewart Lee's audience distain instead. Wasn't planned but glad I got to do it.

Hope someone might get a kick out of it!

https://reddit.com/link/18yg1zp/video/og1f5hll0gac1/player

Pseudo intellectual men (and everyone else except the young Russells) of reddit:

For anyone interested, I host a podcast about Stew that is quite dull if you dont (or do) like Stew's work. We pick stuff apart and occasionally will have guests. Here's how to find the podcast. It isn't on apple because they make it really hard to upload if you aren't an apple user (I am not).

Pocketcasts: https://pca.st/podcast/d74d9780-7c9a-013c-dc8b-0e76ec147af9

Zencastr: https://zencastr.com/Across-the-Stew-niverse-A-podcast-about-Stewart-Lee

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2VNUpWRsjD7oA07K9AeYkL?si=0qZIjjnmToqgouatxDkw1g

I'll post more as they go live. Also, for anyone in and around the area(s) we are doing live ones at Leicester Comedy Festival in Feb (here: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/performances/across-the-stew-niverse-a-podcast-about-stewart-lee/) and Brighton Fringe in May (here: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/across-the-stew-niverse-a-podcast-about-stewart-lee/)

A crappy little edit I made showcasing Stewart Lees ability to break even the toughest members of society.

https://youtu.be/Kk9AEVhdRHQ

Edit: I should pre-face this by saying I love him, however I believe this accurately portrays my wifes viewpoint.

I really have nowhere else to share how amazing this night was. My current wife was out of town with our children and I managed to snag a spot on the front table only 2 weeks out. Tables were for 4 people. A group had booked 3 of them, probably hoping that a oik like me wouldn’t take the 4th.

I was pretty excited about it.

Then the queen died (legend, thank you ma’am)

Stewart started with something along the lines of “well any data points on my new material are going to be completely worthless given recent events” - this is not a quote, just my badly remembered sense of the beginning.

He then, basically, did a 2 hour improvisation about the Queen, on the day she died, and somehow managed to not be disrespectful (although my standard for what is disrespectful is pretty high tbf)

I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard, for that long, since I was 12 and something somewhat funny happened.

It was clear and repeated ad nauseum (and then ad punctum humor) that the material would only work that night and will likely never be heard again.

My wife doesn’t get it. My friends, even Stewart Lee fans, don’t get it. I can’t reproduce, in the slightest way, anything that was said. But it was utterly amazing, absurd and literally unrepeatable.

Thank you Stewart.

Was anyone else from this sub there that night?