According to a recent Channel 4 survey, Stewart Lee has been voted the 41st best stand up comedian ever. The premise of his show is all about what that means to him and the absurdity that comes with it.
Lee is clearly brimming with self-confidence and intelligence as he walks out, delivering his routine in a bone-dry pitch perfect style that has the audience hanging of his every word.
Lee is always entertaining but the show only gives insight into why he’s the ‘41st best stand up ever’ through some of the more awkward moments. Take, for example, a long running joke about his mother’s disregard for him being a comedian and her complete adoration for a stand up show she once saw on a cruise ship. It’s a simple enough story but Lee really starts to play with the rules of comedy, repeating over and over the punch-line and then taking the story into a new direction and going back to the original punch-line.
It’s a brave gamble, taking something that is at first funny, then pulling it apart till it irritates and then making it even funnier. Thing is, this gimmick can only be done by one of the best stand-up comedians around. In fact, only by the 41st best stand-up ever.
4/5
Martin Miller
