Quote: Garry Lee @ July 12 2012, 7:39 AM BST

That's not true. He said he doesn't do Islamic jokes (despite people like Jan Moir saying he's a coward for not doing so) because the general British public know f**k all about their culture, and that comedy is about having reference points (and that's why we laugh at jokes about Christianity, because it's part of our culture). He then went on to tell some Islamic jokes he had written as proof of this, where about 5 members of the audience laugh. It's all part of his last show, Carpet Remnant World.

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Isn't Dara O'Briain the one that said this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPkuWf6IDZY

Maybe they both said it. In either case, I think it's a cop out and an excuse. I'd go with Renegade Carpark's explanation personally.

Quote: Sal Paradise @ August 23 2012, 7:49 PM BST

In either case, I think it's a cop out and an excuse.

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Comedians can talk, or not talk about, whatever they want, they don't owe anyone a ten minute routine on a topic of their choosing.

Saw in Ebrr. Was very good.
Sidenote- If you ever find that your opinion matches Jan Moir's, then nothing personal to her cos I'm sure it's just tabloid shenanigans, but that's a pretty surefire way of knowing you've gone a bit wrong.

Quote: JackDaniels2 @ March 1 2012, 9:21 AM GMT

I said before that people tell me I don't 'get it' and I reply, I get it perfectly well.

On reflection, I watched the last DVD before bed this morning, and the truth is, Nope, I don't get it. I tried viewing his targets of frustration in context, and I realised I'm just not smart enough or comedy savvy enough to understand his choices. In other words, he and his fanbase are clever(er) than me and the stuff I listen to.

Therefore I really have no business posting online opinions of him or his comedy.

If it's true that he's just a character act, like the guy on here said, then again, it's all too smart for my comprehension of things and miles over my head because I had no idea.

Which makes it my shortcoming and not Stews.

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I honestly don't think you should consider yourself not smart enough to comprehend his comedy just because you don't get it. There is a whole list of American comedians that are highly recommended by other comedians that I don't get, and some British comedians as well, but I still enjoy Lee, Munnery and a number of others. Personally I think comedy is just as objective as it is subjective, I have never met two people who enjoy exactly the same kind of comedy no matter what their levels of intelligence are.

OK so some comedians come along every now and then and just make a mockery of it, they are lucky enough to make a room full of people laugh and get high ratings at all hours of the day just by making cheap simple jokes. But in reality those people are rare, most comedians work extremely hard trying to develop their routines and often fail to make everyone laugh. It's a much more competitive business than you might think, and just because Lee is Oxford educated shouldn't make you feel that you aren't clever because you don't get it, comedy is largely personal preference and little evidence has ever made me feel otherwise.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ August 23 2012, 8:00 PM BST

Comedians can talk, or not talk about, whatever they want, they don't owe anyone a ten minute routine on a topic of their choosing.

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Yep, and I'm in turn free to speculate on their possibly cowardly reasons for avoiding those topics. Freedom is great.

Where are all the Buddhism jokes, that's what I want to know, it must be because comedians are afraid of Buddhist fundamentalists.

Buddhism doesn't need to be taken to task like Islam does.

Quote: Sal Paradise @ September 8 2012, 3:33 AM BST

Yep, and I'm in turn free to speculate on their possibly cowardly reasons for avoiding those topics.

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Speculate away, if that's what you're in to.

Buddhist jokes are no fun. They are too serene to take offence.

What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

Hello everyone.
I've been translating Stewart Lee's stand-ups into Russian. He's got some cult following here growing slowly but surely. I've done 90s Comedian and Milder Comedian and now I'm translating the 41st and this time I've got trouble understanding some stuff. Now, I have the Certain Fate book and some of the footnotes proved useful yet I still need assistance from native speakers, preferably British. Some of these problems might be attributed to my limited knowledge of English language or lack of context. Some of these phrases seem to be funny due to their sheer absurdity but I still gotta check if they have some meaning that eludes me. So, here goes.

1. When Lee talks about "a squashed Albert Finney" he says he is "of no value except perhaps as a coaster made of meat or a white pudding, as I believe you Scots would call them". I guess coaster here means the thing you put under a glass but I don't know why it is funny. Same goes for the white pudding.

2. Lee's mom talks about Tom O'Connor being quick. What does the phrase "he's like lightning, coming out of a dish" mean? What dish?

3. Then she says Tom O'Connor "saw the window of opportunity and hurled hisself through it bodily". I kinda understand what this last phrase means literally but it looks like some kind of reference or something.

4. In the bit where Lee is "quoting" Russell Brand saying "there's been some bad racism and stuff going down today" what does "no mistake, my liege" mean? Somebody told me that's just a parody of how Brand speaks. Is that all there is? It really seems like a reference to something and not a very obscure one judging from the laughs it gets.

5. Lee mentions John Smeaton, "an airport baggage handler, who can pretend to have kicked someone". I read about him in wikipedia, there seems to be some debate about him being a hero. In the book Lee says he doesn't have an opinion on the matter. What puzzles me is the phrase "It's an empire built on sand, that man's career".

6. It made me laugh when Lee said: "And what I say to people in the north of England is not every town has to have a cake named after it". I guess it's exactly the case of an unexpected absurdist punchline. If I translated it verbatim it would still work in Russian which is good. But I was wondering if there was something else to it.

7. Lee says he doesn't want to have to agree with something racist out of politeness 'cause he can do that whenever he goes home at Christmas. I can't make sense of this phrase: "I say quilts, but they're flags really. Banners".

8. What is a politically correct brigade?

9. And lastly: "Liverpool, where cloying mawkish nostalgia is regarded as the highest form of entertainment". What's that about?

Thanks in advance. Cheers from Russia.

1. I think it's just meant to be silly. You'd also put a coaster under a mug of hot drink, so one made of meat would be unpleasant.

4. "My liege" is the kind of nonsense Russell Brand comes out with all the time. It's just a very nicely observed parody by Lee. The big laugh is due to the timing and monotone delivery.

5. "built on sand" means it has bad foundations and is unlikely to last. It's a Biblical reference that has made its way into common usage.

6. He's probably referring to Eccles cake, Pontefract cake, etc, which are types of cake named after towns in the north.

8. A "politically correct brigade" would be a group of people who insist on political correctness in all circumstances, even when it produces ridiculous consequences. The phrase "politically correct brigade" would generally be used by people who have old-fashioned views and don't really like political correctness. Lee is mocking them by borrowing their phrase.

9. He's referring to a type of live comedy popular in places including Liverpool that appeals strongly to regional identity and reminding the audience about the way things were in the old days. Tom O'Connor is (arguably) such a comedian.

1. I think he was just thinking up a ridiculous use for a squashed person.

2 & 3 seem to just be an absurd simile and metaphor respectively.

7. I'd have to re-watch it to get the full context.

7. I say quilts, but they're flags really. Banners

- The implication is that his mother is making racist/far-right banners for marches.

Quote: borzov @ September 23 2012, 10:55 AM BST

9. And lastly: "Liverpool, where cloying mawkish nostalgia is regarded as the highest form of entertainment". What's that about?

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There's a great example of this from this week, here:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/comedy-world-cup/4od

Stan Boardman.