Five Edinburgh shows Stewart Lee could do next (but probably won’t)
Image: Andy Hollingworth
Everyone loves a pun – especially Stewart Lee. This week, Lee debuts his 2014 Edinburgh Festival show, A Room With A Stew, continuing his recent run of moniker-based titles. Last year he went with Much A Stew About Nothing (or Much Ado About Stew, as Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre dubbed it, but you get the idea), and in 2011, punters were treated to a hearty Vegetable Stew.
In light of Lee’s growing fondness for wordplay-based titles, we’ve done a bit of speculating, and come up with five Stewart Lee shows we may (…or may not) see in the future.
Ten Things I Hate About Stew
Lee ruminates on ten of his worst reviews from throughout his career, breaking them down to their root of their complaints. He then takes on board these criticisms, and seeks to improve his material based on their advice. (That last sentence is a joke.)
Stew-kips
Expanding on his bit from series three of his Comedy Vehicle, on “Paul Nuttalls of the UKIPs” and his stance on immigration, Lee takes on a variety of other ridiculous statements by UKIP politicians. Like the ones in which women with dirty fridges (not a euphemism) are sluts, and we send money to poor, hard-up peoples of Bongo-Bongo land.
Lee 1 vs Lee 2
Rocking up to theatres around the country with a foldaway snooker table and two versions of himself for Lee 1 vs Lee 2. A tongue-in-cheek swipe at former partner Richard Herring’s unhinged solo podcast, Lee takes himself on at a game of snooker, commentating on the action as he goes.
Expect less observations on delicate tactics and the benefits of a well-chalked cue, more side-swipes at his less successful counterpart, and an eventual spiral into madness. The show ends with Lee standing silently on stage for fifteen minutes with a snooker triangle around his neck, and the look of a broken man on his face.
Centre of the Stewniverse
Stew takes on the mysteries of the universe, in face of the baffling rise of creationism. Where is the centre of the universe? What did Edwin Hubble really use that telescope for? What is The Big Bang Theory, and why on Earth do people actually watch it? All this and more, in a show for people who think Robin Ince is just a bit too soft.
Stew the Looking Glass
After the midlife crisis outing that was Baconface, Lee takes tries on the face of a new character. This time, he’s taking on the guise of Lee Stewart; a comedian exactly the opposite of Stewart Lee in every way. An observational, conservative and completely oblivious TV comic, Lee Stewart has his own primetime talk show, a Nando’s Black Card, and a haircut.
He regularly sells out arenas, and most of his material centres around biscuits and how long his missus takes to get ready of an evening. Watch as Stewart Lee deconstructs everything that’s wrong with stand-up today through the routine of a fictional, ubiquitous buffoon.
Stewart Lee: A Room With A Stew, The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh, 2-25 August, 2.20pm, edfringe.com
