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Something of a rarity, a British stand-up comedian, who's actually quite funny.

I don't know about his stand-up, but his Guardian articles are among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

Jennifer Steadman wrote:I don't know about his stand-up, but his Guardian articles are among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

Harsh. Actually I don't read his Guardian articles as a rule, but I do enjoy his stand-up. However, from previous series, I do think these shows are a bit of a waste of the TV format. It's largely him doing stand-up, which you can get from going to see him doing stand-up. And although you get the odd sketch and stuff, it's not the bulk of the show.

Dam. Missed it. I don't think there's a better comedian around at the moment. However I can see why people wouldn't like him. He's definitely pretentious, especially regarding comedy. His show on Comedy Central, where he didn't perform but showcased other comedians, was a disaster in my opinion. He was very much up his own arsehole about it, as if he was the only one who could spot these hidden gems and gave them airtime they wouldn't get thanks to a dumbed down culture but actually the reason they're ignored is cause they're shite. Can anyone explain Josie Long's appeal?

Haven't watched comedy vehicle yet, forgot (essentially the same as "missed it" but more stupid).
He's excellent but always treads a thin line between very clever and pretty annoying.

There were some excellent comedians on that show Mark. Josie Long? Not one of them.

I love him, I love his stand-up, I love his TV show, and I love his Guardian articles.

Matt Morrison wrote:Haven't watched comedy vehicle yet, forgot (essentially the same as "missed it" but more stupid).
He's excellent but always treads a thin line between very clever and pretty annoying.

There were some excellent comedians on that show Mark. Josie Long? Not one of them.

Some decent ones but I wouldn't go as far as excellent (I liked Tony Laws and some Scottish guy whose name I can't remember, not Limmy, although I like him too). But the main problem I have was the attitude about it. There was a snobbish attitude that he was doing something radically different to something like Jongleurs Unleashed or the comedy store or even that, admittedly nobheadish, Russel Howard. He wasn't. There was nothing extra special about the comedians he had on compared to anyone else. And often times they were even worse than the mainstream kind of comics who I still don't like, but just because they're mainstream and the people he had on weren't doesn't mean one is better than the other. In fact I hated far more of the comedians he had on than I would hate say Michael McIntyre and that ilk. Simon Munnery? Fuck off. He's just not funny. Even someone else who I really like, Kevin Eldon, is better at comedic acting than stand-up and was a waste on that show. And I find it hard to believe that there's actually a hidden agenda by society or mainstream media or whatever to keep these people form getting the recognition they supposedly deserve. Also, as a final note, I hate pretty much any comedian with a guitar. Comedy songs are the lowest form of comedy as far as I'm concerned (with Weird Al Yankovich and Dennis Leary's "Asshole" being the exception to that rule, and maybe even David O'Doherty if I wanted to be generous).

Very funny man.
Anyone who thinks he is pretentious are obviously not in on the joke.
His act is an act.
I love they way he engages with his audience, especially the Comedy Vehicle audience who haven't paid to see him

Jennifer Steadman wrote:among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

Wait, are you talking about his Guardian articles or your travel blog?

Ryan Taylor wrote:

Jennifer Steadman wrote:among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

Wait, are you talking about his Guardian articles or your travel blog?

Michelle likes the Steadman As She Goes page on Facebook, so at least she has better taste in blogs than in men

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Jennifer Steadman wrote:I don't know about his stand-up, but his Guardian articles are among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

Harsh.

I agree, quite unnecessarily harsh! I think his writing's really good and his stand-up is excellent (although I've not seen any of the new series yet, I'm looking forward to watching it).

And "Fist of Fun" with Richard Herring off of the early nineties is still funny today. And it was one of the rare comedy programmes to produce a tie-in book that was actually funny (see also: The Goodies, one of the Not the Nine O'Clock News ones, that's about it).

Thought this week's episode was a bit weak.

people who think they are clever cos they never post in the wrong thread.
Rod Liddell who writes for the Sunday Times.......soup on his sleeve.....Angel Delight powder on his Clavicle

Jennifer Steadman wrote:I don't know about his stand-up, but his Guardian articles are among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

You can say that about anyone vocab-heavy that you don't agree with, really.

Mark Deeks wrote:

Jennifer Steadman wrote:I don't know about his stand-up, but his Guardian articles are among the worst things I've ever read. Tediously overwrought, pretentious shite that you'd expect from the try-hard 'literary' journal of an 18-year-old vegan Communist who's just turned up at university and hasn't got round to signing up for the self-awareness module.

You can say that about anyone vocab-heavy that you don't agree with, really.

Agreement doesn't come into it (there was nothing to agree or disagree with from what I remember about the pieces; they were self-indulgently pointless). It's just a godawful style of writing.

What about Stewart Lee makes you think he's not self-aware?

Mark Deeks wrote:What about Stewart Lee makes you think he's not self-aware?

If he's self-aware about his writing being dreadful, then what's the point of it? Is it meant to be comedy? If you have to explain the joke, it's probably a bit of a shit one.

What we have learnt today.
Some comedians are funny to some people and not funny to others.
Maybe you need to be of a certain age to find Stewart Lee funny.

Marc Meakin wrote:What we have learnt today.
Some comedians are funny to some people and not funny to others.
Maybe you need to be of a certain age to find Stewart Lee funny.

Isn't this more about his newspaper column writing style though? Possibly it's too bourgeois.

If you read his columns, they are written in the same ' voice' and style of his stand up.

In defence of Jen's minority position, the most overwrought, pretentious and indeed unfunny comedy show I ever went to was Stewart Lee's.
Or possibly it was Richard Herring, I never got the hang of who was who.

I think it is time for a thread entitled : Who makes you laugh!
As you know I can't start one.
My top three are Spike Milligan, Steve Coogan and Frankie Boyle.

Would be interested in Jennifer's and Matthews choices

Possibly the best stand-up act I've seen is Brendon Burns. Also love Billy Connolly and Peter Kay.

best stand up gig I went to was Frank Skinner in Brentwood, three weeks after Princess Diana was Murdered, sorry killed.