Stewart Lee: If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2009
In this show, an account of something that happened to me in a coffee shop will be used as a convenient framing device for disparate material possibly concerning English Heritage, Top Gear, The Olympics, emigration, prawns, Bella Pasta, The National Trust, farmers, DH Lawrence, piglets, cathedrals, bees, Iggy Pop, cider adverts, riots etc etc.’
As usual, expect …
- Some punchy stuff near the top
- Inexplicable hostility towards relatively innocuous figures
- Silences
- Repetition
- Sudden and/or gradual shifts in tone, Velocity and volume
- Long routines experimenting with form rather than content
- he possibility of failure
- A quasi-serious bit at the end.
- And - new for 2009 - a song!
Show Dates
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Older Comments
AMD - 28/02/2012
Andy - I have better things to do than watch this drivel. If he has got you to a place where the fact it is not funny is making you laugh because you are 'in' on 'the point' that doesn't detract from the fact that he is making money out of old rope. A severe case of the Emperor's New Clothes. And because I don't find him funny does not instantly make me a Jim Davidson admiring retard. The only comic in the UK whose fans are as smug as he is.
Dee - 20/02/2010
Saw Stewart Lee early February and enjoyed Milder Comedian more than I did Stand Up Comedian. If you don't get the idea that Lee is playing with the what the audience expects of a comic, and how the comic can step back and observe how the audience is reacting, you won't get Lee. I like the way you are not sure how uncomfortable you will be made to feel. Our audience was criticised for not travelling to Central London to see the show, instead preferring to come to the more local Epsom! When he performed the song at the end, it wasn't embarrassing, because he had explained why he wanted to "reclaim" the song. Thoughtful, provoking and funny. Recommended.
Pete - 15/01/2010
Lee is a brilliant comic, and as I am sure he said to every audience, he's not the kind of comic who is going to hold your hand through simple "setup-->punchline" jokes. There is a such a perfect ebb and flow to his shows, and I don't think any other comic quite matches it.
Andy - 17/12/2009
It's quite funny how badly AMD has missed the point
Kevin - 11/12/2009
Saw the show in Galway, Ireland. Sharon Shannon played the Steve Earl song with him, nice surprise for everyone. And she seemed to love the irony. A fantastic stand up.
Nathan Dean - 03/12/2009
I saw this show about a week ago in Birmingham. I thought it was very good, as usual, but I didn't think that it was as good as, for example, Stand Up Comedian, and was certainly not a memorable. I think that there were some very faint hints of Stewart becoming predicatable here. So while it is by no means a bad show, I think I'd be disappointed if his next show wasn't much better than this.
Chris G - 30/11/2009
Was at the show the The Lowry on evening of 29/11/09 - extremely funny, he gave me an asthma attack....and the "my foot" joke was funny!
AMD - 19/11/2009
Saw Stewart Lee in Guildford last night and he was really bad. He had about 5 jokes which he made last 1 and a half hours. I've never been closer to walking out of a gig and I closed my eyes at one point I was so bored. One guy did walk out and Stewart Lee didn't take it very well. He seemed to have formed an opinion about the audience from the start, and when no-one laughed at his poor 'my foot' joke, assumed it was because no one had got it. We got all your jokes Stewart. They just didn't make us laugh. A shame. was looking forward to him. His support was funnier than he was. A real let down. Agree with the person above, I don't like repitition or pedantry.
Brendan - 16/11/2009
Really enjoyed the show in Worcester. Intelligent and very funny. A great performance, sometimes almost hypnotic in delivery. Highly recommended.
Mella Delargy - 09/10/2009
Excellent night, intelligent,funny and original - Don't understand why he is not selling out venues? One of the best live acts around
Andy H - 07/10/2009
Another sublime insight into the world Lee seems so tired of. Pant pissingly funny.
Andy Barr - 27/08/2009
The usual comedy master class - pretty much as advertised on the show description. A long and sustained attack on Richard Hammond with a detour to slag off Frankie Boyle the highlights. Well worth a visit. 4.5 out of 5. If you don't like repetition or pedantry avoid
Kirsten - 18/08/2009
By doing something sincerely and well, Stewart Lee has broken the final taboo. I would see this show every night if I could.