Melancholy. Hopeful. Whimsical. Poetic. Bearded. These are just some of the accusatory adjectives that have been laid at the feet of the Yorkshire born overlord of theatrical stand-up, Daniel Kitson. To understand the sheer breadth of his influence upon the comedy scene in the UK and beyond would take more words than the count here allows, so you'll have to settle for me telling you that this man is a pretty big fucking deal, actually. And all the better for the casual comedy punter having not got the foggiest idea who he is.

To understand the man, you have to look at his work, so this episode sees Dan and Joe take a road trip to Manchester to witness a work in progress attempt at Pith, a melancholy, hopeful, whimsical, poetic, and still quite beardy mix of stand-up and storytelling. The show demonstrates exactly why Daniel Kitson is so revered by his peers, as well as critics and comedy nerds, and other assorted undesireable folk that you wouldn't want to take home to Mother. 

Dan and Joe loved it so much that they wanted an excuse to talk about it on the pod, and figured that Stew proclaiming Daniel Kitson to be "all comedians' favourite comedian" is good enough reason to shoehorn it in.

Extended Stewniverse: Daniel Kitson's Pith

If ATS podcast episodes were to adopt the naming conventions of the popular nineties American Sitcom Friends, this episode would be "The One Where Dan Gets Cancelled"

After a minor misunderstanding over the conventions regarding the context of analysis and reportage vs actual bigotry, Dan gets himself into hot water (no, not the popular male only stand-up venue in the North West of England) and doubles down like a child trying to save himself from being told off by someone trying to teach him something.

Shame.

Elsewhere, Dan says things like "maybe he killed himself" in an insensitive manner, proving that his judgement of tone in comedy has been adversely affected by his absolute inability to do it himself properly. Dan and Joe also discuss Hotel based anecdotes and talk at a far greater length than they should do about an episode of television that lasts for less than half an hour. No one learns anything and Dan wishes he was was a frog who was dead, or something.

Comedy!

Episode 9: Comedy Vehicle #1.6 - Comedy (2009)

Do not adjust your podcast listening equipment. This is not a glitch, virus, or other undesirable affect of living in the modern media landscape. We are in fact back. 

Now, whilst this may be an unwelcome event for most of you, to those of you who care about such things, we are sorry for the lengthy absence, it will probably happen again because no one is paying us to do this (could you imagine?) and life is just like that sometimes.  If we are still doing this by Edinburgh next year, this will 100% happen again.

Anyway, in this episode, Dan and Joe fight to hide their disappointment at still having to talk about Comedy Vehicle series one, and not "If You Prefer a Milder Comedian..." or any of the later Comedy Vehicle series' were the real gold lives and there are no sketches to disguise the lack of punchlines.

This one is about religion, apparently.

Episode 8: Comedy Vehicle #1.5 - Religion (2009)

Here, Dan and Joe step back in time to a world when no one had any money and the world was on the brink of complete financial collapse. No, it wasn't last week. It was fifteen years ago. And although the world recovered financially for a little while, normal service has been resumed and no one has any money again. 

"AT LEAST WE STILL HAVE STEWART LEE" I hear you cry. Yes, but at what cost?

In this episode, Stew gets sketch happy in an attempt to disguise a stand up routine that didn't particularly catch fire in the same way as his other stuff, and yet was still better than 99% of what someone called Russell might do. We talk about it a bit but often get bored and ramble about other stuff.

COME SEE DAN IN EDINBURGH! [https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on#q=%22Daniel%20Powell%3A%20Breathless%20(Work%20in%20Progress)%22]

Episode 7: Comedy Vehicle #1.4 - Global Financial Crisis (2009)

Dan caught up with bona fide COMEDY GENIUS Dave Cohen (Horrible Histories, HIGNFY, Spitting Image, loads of other stuff) to Stew the Fat (yes we will continuously repeat these tedious puns) about his days as a stand up in the erly days of Alternative Comedy, establishing the now world famous Comedy Store players (with, amongst others, Paul Merton and some unknown Canadian called Mike Myers... wonder where he ended up?) and being nominated (and not nominated for an even better show) for an Edinburgh Fringe Award.

We also talk about crossing paths with a young comedian called Stewart Lee, and his thoughts on how Stew has developed and improved upon his craft since his early days on the circuit. On the subject of Stew, Dave and I spend a lot of time discussing the "character" of The Comedian Stewart Lee, Dave's thoughts as a comedy writer and tutor on what sort of work will have gone into developing the act, and a little thought experiment that looks at what sort of sitcom the "character" of Stewart Lee might fit into.

Basic-Lee (yes, that's one of Stew's, but a pun nonetheless), this episode is excellent and should not be missed.

TRIGGER WARNING: THERE IS A SINGLE USE OF A RACIAL SLUR, IN THE CONTEXT OF TALKING ABOUT THE USE OF SLURS BY WORKING MEN'S CLUB COMICS.

You can keep up with Dave's work at his website: Home - Dave Cohen [https://www.davecohen.org.uk/]

SEE STEWNIVERSE LIVE AT BRIGHTON FRINGE: Across the Stew-niverse: A Podcast About Stewart Lee - Brighton Fringe [https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/across-the-stew-niverse-a-podcast-about-stewart-lee/]

SEE DAN'S WORK IN PROGRESS LIVE AT BRIGHTON FRINGE: Daniel Powell: Breathless (Work in Progress) - Brighton Fringe [https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/daniel-powell-breathless-work-in-progress/]

SEE JOE'S WORK IN PROGRESS LIVE AT THE BRIGHTON FRINGE: I should be dead - Brighton Fringe [https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/i-should-be-dead/]

Stewin' the Fat 2: With Dave Cohen

This week Dan and Joe take a rambling (and detour filled) ride around Political Correctness, episode three of series one of Comedy Vehicle.

Amongst the topics discussed are motorway service stations, not reading books, and racism. All the topics. Because this episode contains loads of content that was already covered in the 41st Best episode, we've given ourselves license to twat about much more than usual, so if you're thinking "I didn't listen to a Stewart Lee Podcast to hear a load of poorly constructed anecdotes about the hosts instead of well researched content about the subject", unfortunately for you... yes you did.

Come and see us at the Brighton Fringe, where Dan has work in progress shows, Joe has work in progress shows, and we have a couple of live Stewniverse records with some great guests.

Details HERE [https://www.brightonfringe.org/whats-on/]

Episode 6: Comedy Vehicle #1.3 - Political Correctness (2009)

Dan and Joe look at the second episode from Comedy Vehicle Series 1, Television.

This episode features arguably some of the weakest stand-up of the series (Stew's words) but some of the strongest sketches (our words), with the classic Del Boy/Wicker Man nightmare crossover that you never asked for.

Recording of this episode was a tricky proposition due to time constraints, so was recorded in two sittings, clearly separated by a little piece of music. Marvel at how we seamlessly pick up from where we left off!

If you're in the area in May, do come and see us at the Brighton Fringe festival, where both Dan and Joe have work in progress shows and we're recording a couple of live pods!

details HERE [https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/]

Episode 5: Comedy Vehicle #1.2 - Television (2009)

Greetings A-stew-nauts! (that's like a Time Vine pun, not something I would do, really)

Back in February, we did an experimental live episode to see how it feels to a) let someone else talk for most of it, b) do it in front of a live audience (insert Lee Mack joke here) and c) only do it for an hour (Lee Mack Style topper goes here).

Our guest Michael Legge (one of the funniest comedians currently on the circuit and a joy to talk to) made that infinitely easier (for us, not him) because he talked for most of it, except the annoying bit at the end where I haphazardly conducted an audience game to get rid of some DVD's.

WARNING! THERE IS PRECIOUS LITTLE STEW RELATED CHAT IN THIS EPISODE, BUT A VERY POIGNANT AND REVEALING ANNECDOTE FROM MICHAEL ABOUT STEW AND A GUITAR. ALSO THE RECORDING QUALITY IS SHIT, BUT YOU DIDNT PAY TO SEE THIS LIVE AND THIS VERSION IS FOR FREE SO TOUGH FUCKING TITS!

Anyway, thanks for listening, enjoy!

PS: we are doing this again in Brighton in May (without Joe, so just me and guests!)

check out THIS LINK [https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/across-the-stew-niverse-a-podcast-about-stewart-lee/] for details

Saturday 25th May with guests (No) Money in the Bank

Sunday 26th May Guest TBC

Stewniverse LIVE! With Michael Legge

Dan and Joe dive headfirst into Stew's Comedy Vehicle series, starting unsurprisingly with episode 1 - Toilet Books.

This episode explores the world of literature through the prism of it's lowest forms, principally the work of Dan Brown, former Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles and rap singer/Jesus like figure Asher D of So Solid Crew. Stew also takes aim at Jeremy Clarkson, Russell Brand and the Harry Potter franchise (the latter of which prompted a challenging but ultimately healthy debate between Dan and Joe) and includes sketches featuring the likes of Tony Law, Paul Puttner, Tara Strong and Miles Jupp, amongst others.

As per the DVD commentary, this episode includes two jokes written by Simon Munnery.

Episode 4: Comedy Vehicle #1.1 - Toilet Books (2009)

On February 9th 2024, Dan and Joe scurried along to the Leeds Playhouse to watch Stew on his Basic Lee tour. this is them talking about it. Dan has seen it before and Joe is seeing it for the first time.

Includes amusing/tedious (delete as applicable) asides about Fleabag, Dan's recent Vasectomy and other things that we've probably forgotten. These days, you get arrested and thrown in jail for not remembering things. especially the past.

SPOILER WARNING: The bits we could remember probably contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen Basic Lee and would rather watch the man himself do it properly rather than two boring men try to remember bits of it, don't listen to this. Or do, I'm not your Mum.

Basic Leeds: A Debrief

Stand-up comedian and semi-harmless fanatic Daniel Powell and fellow stand-up/relative Stewart Lee newbie (stewbie?) Joe Kirkwood (plus the occasional guest), take a deep dive into the work of The Comedian Stewart Lee. Expect many uses of the word "deconstruction", at least one use of "avant-garde" (probably out of context) per episode, and much tedious quoting of favourite lines and routines from the vast back catalogue of Mr Lee's work. To prevent things descending into cackling sycophant territory, some negativity is mandatory.

Some analysis will be attempted, most of which will be of no academic or artistic value.

Daniel Powell

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