Blimey, this guy just gets more and more abstruse.
My youngest son came home yesterday and announced heād had sausages for lunch. this prompted me to remarkā¦
Iāve been watching two comics almost exclusively in the last three weeks. The first is a Sotonians favourite, the inestimable Stewart Lee. His evolution into the comic he is now is pretty impressive, but easily explainable. His new comic creation, which he insists is a separate character, just doesnāt give a fuck about being liked. His younger incarnation, whether it was him or not, did a bit. One of the only performers still following the Lenny Bruce writer auteur model (even Frankie Boyle uses writers, according to him), his shows are excellent. I also really like his side gig as an interviewer. His chats with Alexei Sayle and Alan Moore are well worth checking out.
The other chap would be Doug Stanhope, someone my best mate (sorry @fatso ) put me onto because he knew I loved Bill Hicks. We went to see him live on the day Leicester came back to draw 2-2 at St. Marys. Both my best mate and Doug himself said that he was nearing the end of his career, and that he wasnāt as hardcore as he was before. He was good when we saw him. His early stuff is bloody excellent though, raw, angry, drunken genius. Charlie Brooker had him on his shows.
I think Hicks would have loved the pair of them.
Iām having difficulty thinking of a better video which reconciles 70s and 90s comedy quite so nicely.
Peter Cook and Chris Morris, ladies and gentlemen.
My love for Bob grows each time I listen to him.
Peter Beardsley from Athletico Mince
Early versionā¦voice not as good as more recent stuff but the story is something else
Better voiceā¦Peter tells jokes
Peter explain the racist bullying
Peterās wife is brutal
Just started listening to Athletico Mince. Itās funny as fuck. I love Bobās tumbleweed jokes and Andyās reaction to them
Started cracking up in the office today while listening to an episode. Bob said he was selling his vacuum cleaner because it was just picking up dust.
Seeing Mark Thomas tonight at a charity gig he has set up with Robin Ince, Bridgit Christie and Daniel Kitson . Should be good.
Saw Bill Bailey last week and Ed Byrne both very good
Oh - hello by the way , thought Iād pop back 
Pop back? Pop back!! WhereTF have you been ladā¦tarry a while. 
Sounds like a great gig.
Good to have back, hope you stick around.
I saw him in 2015 at The Lowry in Manchester. I went with my best mate (sorry @fatso . for both mentioning a best mate and creating a culture where people can call others best mates) , swerving that Leicester game where we drew 2-2 after being 2-0 up. My mate had an app on his phone which beeped every time a goal in the game went in. āComeback kingsā, I remarked. Heās not forgiven me for that remark to this day.
Anyways, Stanhope. When we saw him, the best mate and Doug himself both told me that he was on the way out, that this was a money raising tour, a bit of a Greatest Hits.
In the time since, Iāve come to see him as one of the two spiritual successors to Bill Hicks, whether they like it or not. The other is Stewart Lee. Stanhope is much much closer, having that American and almost eternally drunken persona, but Lee has that same questioning eye. He just focuses it in on much much smaller areas, and delivers. Both expect their audiences to dislike what theyāre saying, both have material pre-worked in anticipation of the controversy theyāre going to cause, of which Lee is the undoubted master.
For me, comedy genius has always been about being able to present a different point of view, say something true, impart a couple of values and make people laugh at the same time. Hicks was better physically and politically, Stanhope is probably the best observational comedian Iāve seen (largely because people forget that he is one) while Lee can plough the minutiae of any little thing while expressing utter contempt.
Iām clearly the comedy king of this forum so my opinions are important.
I listened to Doug Stanhope podcast and I didnāt like it. I found it slightly offensive and a bit aggressive for my liking. I didnāt find it clever I any way.
Now, Iām not saying that heās shit, Iām saying I find some of his humour difficult.
So basically, fuck him
He is offensive and aggressive. Often seems very self-justifying as well, especially on the subject of abortion. For me though, thereās little doubt that heās real in what he says. This is a bloke totally out of his comfort zone that managed to collect his thoughts, write them down and get drunk enough to express them in public.
The bloke is fearless. His most offensive shows happened in the mid 2000s, just after 9/11 and a whole heap of other shit. He went after every major religion on Earth.
And yet, the bloke is still getting onto Charlie Brookerās show in the 2010s, who will have no doubt seen everything heās been in.
Charlie has always been a bit aggressive and offensive too. The bloke got banned in print long before he ever got on TV.
Great post Pap. Comedy is just a subjective thing. Stewart Lee iāve seen twice live. You have to watch him live as he creates this tension in the crowd which may not perhaps translate to watching him online. I saw him in Cardiff 5 years ago, soon after he was declared bankrupt following the cancellation of Jerry Springer the Opera.
Great taste in music Bob has too: