Stewart Lee: If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One

Stewart Lee, the man The Guardian so aptly refers to as "the fierce scourge of dimwit mainstream" brings his new stand-up routine to the Leicester Square Theatre for a lengthy run. One half of the 90s comedy duo Lee and Herring, the Oxford-educated comic brains behind Jerry Springer: The Musical is right up there with his friends Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris in producing cutting-edge, thoughtful comedy. This new show sees Lee, "the master of deadpan stand-up" (The Times), tear apart a certain high-street coffee chain, a pear cider brand which has stolen his favourite song to advertise its tasteless drink and Richard Hammond, who "I hate more than anyone who has ever lived". So sure of his ability, Lee once wrote his own review, slating his performance and calling himself "fat? positively Neanderthal". He also uses a scathing quote from the Birmingham Sunday Mercury (!) on his website homepage which says: "His whole tone is one of complete, smug condensation". With his trademark silences and repetition and his sudden shifts in tone and complete grasp of irony, Lee is at the top of his game. "This is comedy with a brain and a heart, from a stand-up effortlessly maintaining top gear," gushes The Guardian.