Stewart Lee: Carpet Remnant World
St David’s Hall, Cardiff
Wed 28 Mar
words: BETTI HUNTER
For most of his career, it seems that Stewart Lee has consistently managed to divide opinion. After the debacle of Jerry Springer: The Musical and the consequent court case brought forth by Christian activists who claimed the production was blasphemous, he’s courted controversy due to both his questionable subject matter and low-key, passive-aggressive delivery. Some believe he is the top dog of British comedy. Others just don’t get his off-beat humour, with one particular reviewer describing him as a “preachy, sanctimonious berk”. Charming.
However, all reports suggest that Lee has toned down a tad for his Carpet Remnant World tour. Disillusioned with modern life and its endless cycle of vast retail outlets and BBC News 24, Lee claims that life has provided him with scant material this time around. The man once famous for making a somewhat crude (but admittedly pretty funny) joke about the imagined decapitation of Richard Hammond has now turned his attention to writing what he knows. At the moment, this mainly consists of the banalities of sitting for hours on end in front of the tellybox and raising his young son on a diet of cynicism and Scooby Doo.
His famed monotony may also be taking a backseat, in favour of more conventional topical jokes covering the London riots, Bin Laden’s death and the perils of surveillance society. Diehard fans needn’t worry – the inclusion of a choice quote from the Sun on his tour info that labels him ‘about as funny as bubonic plague’ suggest that maybe modern life hasn’t quite sucked the soul out of Lee just yet.
Tickets £17.50. Info: 029 2087 8444 / www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk