Stewart Lee, do you think he's funny?

pappyodaniel · 22-09-2013 3:05pm #1

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew0qiozLtpU

Links234 · 22-09-2013 3:07pm

I think he's brilliant, went to see him live last year and had one of the best times at a comedy gig I've had in my life, he was terrific

stefan idiot jones · 22-09-2013 3:08pm

No, and I have tried.

DesperateDan · 22-09-2013 3:09pm

Jokes go on far too long and the pay-off is always deliberately terrible so why would you bother. It's like those achingly tedious family guy jokes all rolled into one depressed self-deprecating package. However he obviously loves that people think he's ****, and that's what I really don't like about his style. I do like this page on his site though.

Howard Juneau · 22-09-2013 3:10pm

No. Unfunny, doesn't appreciate good comedy & tries to deconstruct other people's work in an effort to make himself seem funnier & clever.
He fails.

wazky · 22-09-2013 3:11pm

I don't like people who have a first name as a second name, so I dislike him anyway.

Savoir.Faire · 22-09-2013 3:11pm

He likes to rip the piss out of more commercially minded comedians like Michael McIntyre. The thing is they are both really shit, only in different ways.

krudler · 22-09-2013 3:11pm

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.

Artful_Badger · 22-09-2013 3:13pm

He's pretty good.

Skid X · 22-09-2013 3:15pm

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

Richard Herring is better.

TommiesTank · 22-09-2013 3:18pm

I don't like Hipsters but I like the comedy of Stewart Lee.

Although I think he has it wrong on health and safety.

OpenYourEyes · 22-09-2013 3:18pm

I find it hard to describe his comedy or why it's good, but it really is very good. Not really something you can watch a youtube clip of, or even an abbreviated 20min set of - you have to sit down and watch the dvd's from start to finish to get into the tone and enjoy all of the callbacks. Very intense and good stuff though - I'd take him over Michael McIntyre or Stewart Lee any day of the week (though I used to like the latter and MM is alright in small doses).

My name is URL · 22-09-2013 3:18pm

Compared to some comedians on the go atm, he's not that bad.

I'd sooner listen to him than Russel Howard or Ross Noble or any of those other mentally challenged dopes that think shouting makes their jokes funnier.

nlgbbbblth · 22-09-2013 3:21pm

His piece about political correctness was spot on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHLnf5H4soU

Total hipster though. Quite condescending and aloof mostly.

DesperateDan · 22-09-2013 3:23pm

Savoir.Faire wrote: »

He likes to rip the piss out of more commercially minded comedians like Michael McIntyre. The thing is they are both really shit, only in different ways.

Yeah McIntyre is the polar opposite, I'd rather listen to an upper-class white boy joke from McIntyre any day than Lee droning on about how s*** we all are though.

The Backwards Man · 22-09-2013 3:24pm

Never heard of him. Honestly. Must be rubbish so.

Tin Foil Hat · 22-09-2013 3:25pm

He's an unfunny, monotoned, ranting bore with a superiority complex and a nasty streak.
The most overrated comedian of all time by a considerable distance.

tylercheribini · 22-09-2013 3:26pm

Some of his stuff his on the money but as stated above already, it is the way it is delivered I find problematic. He spends far too much time slaggin other comedians also, even if he is right about alot of them.

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 3:28pm

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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew0qiozLtpU

"The hipster comedy snob who takes smug satisfaction in understanding the joke." Way to come off as a total and utter hipster with that truly bizarre sentence. Being satisfied with oneself because you were intelligent enough to understand something? Christ, I would just hate that.

Stewart Lee is one of the greatest comedians the UK has ever produced. 41st greatest stand up in fact.

Artful_Badger · 22-09-2013 3:29pm

My name is URL wrote: »

Compared to some comedians on the go atm, he's not that bad.

I'd sooner listen to him than Russel Howard or Ross Noble or any of those other mentally challenged dopes that think shouting makes their jokes funnier.

Most of these young guys are more panel show guests than actual comedians. Russel Howard, Jack Whithall, Chris Ramsey etc. They are Westlife equivalent in TV. Pretty boys who are famous for being famous rather than contributors to the genre.

Fr_Dougal · 22-09-2013 3:32pm

He used to be funnier, he's after dumbing down his act a lot in the last few years so he'll appeal to the masses.

Cossax · 22-09-2013 3:32pm

He's about as funny as cancer IMO.

tylercheribini · 22-09-2013 3:34pm

I thought he and his sketch material was brilliant on "This Morning with Richard not Judy". Very under rated show.

Setun · 22-09-2013 3:35pm

tylercheribini wrote: »

I thought he and his sketch material was brilliant on "This Morning with Richard not Judy". Very under rated show.

Consider the lilly.

Ahhhhhh.

repsol · 22-09-2013 3:36pm

He did a routine at the Edinburgh comedy festival a few years back about the film Braveheart. Absolute comedy genius. Did a great routine about 9/11 also.Some of his stuff is a bit hit and miss sometimes but thats the case with all comics. He is very original and those who don't like him probably don't understand the jokes.He is Ricky Gervais favorite comedian which is high praise in my book. People think he is some over privileged toff. This is not the case as he was at one time sleeping rough on an office floor before his career took off.

tylercheribini · 22-09-2013 3:37pm

Setun wrote: »

Consider the lilly.

Ahhhhhh.

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

krudler · 22-09-2013 3:38pm

tylercheribini wrote: »

Some of his stuff his on the money but as stated above already, it is the way it is delivered I find problematic. He spends far too much time slaggin other comedians also, even if he is right about alot of them.

Agree, those loooong meandering stories repeating the same thing over and over "and Rodney made a face" yeah we get it. If as a comedian you're making people want you to hurry up and get to the point of the gag or story then you've lost them.

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 3:42pm

krudler wrote: »

Agree, those loooong meandering stories repeating the same thing over and over "and Rodney made a face" yeah we get it. If as a comedian you're making people want you to hurry up and get to the point of the gag or story then you've lost them.

Nope, they were already lost and had no business being at the show.

22-09-2013 3:42pm

I like him in small doses and some of his observations are very astute, but if he dropped the intellectual snobbery and occasional bout of sneering, he'd be funnier.

My name is URL · 22-09-2013 3:48pm

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Most of these young guys are more panel show guests than actual comedians. Russel Howard, Jack Whithall, Chris Ramsey etc. They are Westlife equivalent in TV. Pretty boys who are famous for being famous rather than contributors to the genre.

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'.

krudler · 22-09-2013 3:51pm

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Nope, they were already lost and had no business being at the show.

He does make some very funny observations, but his delivery takes too long, and it's just the same sentence over and over. mumble into the mike, wait for sneering applause, more mumbling. repeat same observation a half dozen times more before punchline. Repeat for show.

It's easy to make fun of other people's work, even if you don't like the people he's slagging off. I'm no fan of Michael McIntyre either but he's made me chuckle a few times, it's easily relatable comedy, pretty harmless stuff. He's a gurning fool at the best of times but I'd be lying if I said I've never once laughed at something he said.

pappyodaniel · 22-09-2013 3:51pm

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Being satisfied with oneself because you were intelligent enough to understand something? Christ, I would just hate that.

The point I should have elaborated on I suppose was the type of person in the crowd chuckling away at Stewart Lee's comedy whilst scanning the room and sneering at blank faces in the audience who obviously don't get the genius of Stewart Lee.

- Oh I get it, I just don't it funny. He's not my least favourite comedian by any stretch. That's vacated by Jim Davidson.

quickbeam · 22-09-2013 3:51pm

I think he's funny, but he's not the best comedian ever like some people like to portray him. I can usually only manage him in small doses.

Mardy Bum · 22-09-2013 3:53pm

krudler wrote: »

Agree, those loooong meandering stories repeating the same thing over and over "and Rodney made a face" yeah we get it. If as a comedian you're making people want you to hurry up and get to the point of the gag or story then you've lost them.

This is called form.

The same way poets use form and playwrights and novelists. Most comedians don't have a clue what form is and he is one of the few that does.

krudler · 22-09-2013 4:00pm

Mardy Bum wrote: »

This is called form.

The same way poets use form and playwrights and novelists. Most comedians don't have a clue what form is and he is one of the few that does.

Hang on so if you were reading a book that had the same phrase repeated over and over and over for a full page you wouldn't think "jesus get to the point?" That's how I feel seeing a lot of Lee's stuff, and the payoff isn't all that funny some of the time.

_Whimsical_ · 22-09-2013 4:03pm

I like him , he makes some really funny,original observations, but he makes FAR too much use of repetition in his delivery. A little adds style,I'll give him that, but he crosses the line into bloody insufferable at times saying the same thing over and over.

Someone needs to tell him aint no one got time for that!

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 4:04pm

krudler wrote: »

Hang on so if you were reading a book that had the same phrase repeated over and over and over for a full page you wouldn't think "jesus get to the point?" That's how I feel seeing a lot of Lee's stuff, and the payoff isn't all that funny some of the time.

That's because while you were sitting there waiting for the punchline to happen, it was already happening and you were it.

Mardy Bum · 22-09-2013 4:05pm

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

I like him , he makes some really funny,original observations, but he makes FAR too much use of repetition in his delivery. A little adds style,I'll give him that, but he crosses the line into bloody insufferable at times saying the same thing over and over.

Someone needs to tell him aint no one got time for that!

A lot of the time he is being insufferable on purpose.

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 4:06pm

pappyodaniel wrote: »

The point I should have elaborated on I suppose was the type of person in the crowd chuckling away at Stewart Lee's comedy whilst scanning the room and sneering at blank faces in the audience who obviously don't get the genius of Stewart Lee.

- Oh I get it, I just don't it funny. He's not my least favourite comedian by any stretch. That's vacated by Jim Davidson.

So some fans of his happen to be spas and that's his fault in your eyes?

BlurstMonkey · 22-09-2013 4:24pm

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

That's because while you were sitting there waiting for the punchline to happen, it was already happening and you were it.

His newest recorded show had some great bits with regard to this, taking the piss out of the crowd at the back who bought tickets off the back of his TV success. It was all playful naturally, he makes another crack at how all of his real fans are pseudo-intellectuals, which again wasn't meant in a harsh way. It was a great inclusive quip that was representative of his humour.

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.

pappyodaniel · 22-09-2013 4:28pm

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

So some fans of his happen to be spas and that's his fault in your eyes?

Nope. But he attracts this type of fan and seems to lap it up with gusto.

Wibbs · 22-09-2013 4:28pm

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

Nope, they were already lost and had no business being at the show.

Mardy Bum wrote: »

This is called form.

The same way poets use form and playwrights and novelists. Most comedians don't have a clue what form is and he is one of the few that does.

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

That's because while you were sitting there waiting for the punchline to happen, it was already happening and you were it.

Napper Hawkins wrote: »

So some fans of his happen to be spas and that's his fault in your eyes?

Mardy Bum wrote: »

A lot of the time he is being insufferable on purpose.

Consider if you will the pretentious, self important and snobbish replies above. As dog owners are commonly seen to resemble their dogs, maybe a comics audience follows the same idea? I think it says as much about Lee as anything I could possibly add.

BlurstMonkey · 22-09-2013 4:34pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Consider if you will the pretentious, self important and snobbish replies above. As dog owners are commonly seen to resemble their dogs, maybe a comics audience follows the same idea? I think it says as much about Lee as anything I could possibly add.

I hope you realise just how snobby you're being with that generalization, and comparison with dogs thrown in, very tasteless. Talk about having your precious nose in the air.

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 4:36pm

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Nope. But he attracts this type of fan and seems to lap it up with gusto.

I'd agree with you there alright, as for whether he laps it up I can't speak for him. I'm sure he likes their money!

krudler · 22-09-2013 4:39pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Consider if you will the pretentious, self important and snobbish replies above. As dog owners are commonly seen to resemble their dogs, maybe a comics audience follows the same idea? I think it says as much about Lee as anything I could possibly add.

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".

Wibbs · 22-09-2013 4:40pm

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

Mardy Bum · 22-09-2013 4:41pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Consider if you will the pretentious, self important and snobbish replies above. As dog owners are commonly seen to resemble their dogs, maybe a comics audience follows the same idea? I think it says as much about Lee as anything I could possibly add.

Pardon anyone for knowing anything about literary fiction or art.

pappyodaniel · 22-09-2013 4:43pm

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".

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.

zega · 22-09-2013 4:45pm

He's an unfunny cnut.

pappyodaniel · 22-09-2013 4:45pm

zega wrote: »

He's an unfunny ****.

Yay! Finally an After Hours reply!

Napper Hawkins · 22-09-2013 4:45pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Consider if you will the pretentious, self important and snobbish replies above. As dog owners are commonly seen to resemble their dogs, maybe a comics audience follows the same idea? I think it says as much about Lee as anything I could possibly add.

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.

Stewart Lee, do you think he's funny?

Is he funny? 308 votes

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