Stewart Lee, Basic Lee: Live at the Lowry

I was in the midst of a quite serious mental health issue so I went to the doctors and I said "Doctor, Doctor I feel like a pair of curtains"... He said "well I am a general practitioner and that sounds more like a mental health issue so pull yourself together". He did however recommend watching his favourite comedian Stewart Lee and I'm so glad he did because this brought me here.

As always there are very few belly laughs with Stewart's comedy, I don't think he did an actual joke, the self referential parts were so on point that it verged on cringy, the level of repetition from previous sets was obvious and seemingly below an artist of his standing and the audience participation stuff was a disaster. It was utter brilliance...no one ever comes away from watching Stewart Lee saying their belly ached...if you have seen him before (and he only wants those who have) you get the self reference and wait for it like a child at Christmas....the audience participation is completely improvised but made to look like it goes wrong so suggesting its deliberately rubbish and he plays off that because that's what he wants. The section where he described the fans who self satisfyingly believe they are geniuses because they like him is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. And I should know because I love Stewart Lee.....Stewart Lee.

He smiles more than usual in this one and I don't know what to think of that, or even if I should. Given the few remaining years he can do this, and the eclipsingly fewer teenagers coming through, perhaps he's aiming for a broader audience - the American market, maybe? If so, one point off, just in case.

Realising, as I write this, that no matter how hard I try to summon the amount of major key jazz required to mentally score this effort to fulfil the minimum character-count of an IMDb review, I can admit I respect him. Partly because of how little he sweats when looking you directly in the eye while letting himself go, but more exactly because he's the that of comedy.