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" It's difficult to write anything at the moment, as every week there's a seismic shift in world events. "
Stewart Lee
World
Week
Moment
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" I grew up in Solihull, on the edge of what was then the Birmingham conurbation. It was a good place to write comedy from. I didn't feel allegiance to anything. I didn't have working-class pride or upper-class superiority. "
Stewart Lee
Comedy
Edge
Feel
" I am not comparing myself to great artists, but when you see conceptual artists at work, on some level it's reassuring to know they can paint figuratively. Likewise, when you listen to the '50s jazz people who do these vast solos, you buy into it more if they open by playing a tune. "
Stewart Lee
I Am
Great
Work
" I don't mind causing offence when I intend to, but I don't like causing it accidentally. "
Stewart Lee
Offence
Like
Intend
" I wasn't the classic comedy type; I wasn't bullied or extrovert. I was more the ambitious literary one who wanted to write clever little plays. "
Stewart Lee
Classic
Clever
Comedy
" When I started on the London circuit in 1989, nationwide there were about 150 to 200 people that were what you could call alternative comedians - that weren't club comics. Now, last year when the Laughing Horse chain of clubs held a new acts competition, a thousand people entered. So, there are 800 people more. "
Stewart Lee
You
People
Now
" The me you see on stage is largely a construct, based on me at my worst, my most annoying, my most petty, and my most patronizing. "
Stewart Lee
See
Stage
Worst
" I thought it would be a funny concept to publish a book about stand-up comedy with Faber, the poetry publisher, and to apply to stand-up the same sort of weight of annotation that you would to a classic work of literature, an epic poem. I thought that would be funny. "
Stewart Lee
Poetry
You
Work
" Nothing is too controversial, but you have to think about how to do it with sensitivity. I don't try to be insensitive. I think really, really carefully about exactly what things mean and how they will affect people. "
Stewart Lee
People
Mean
Think
" I'm forever reading on the Internet that I apparently cultivate this audience and never go badly. "
Stewart Lee
Never
Reading
Audience
" Things that I do tend not to work out commercially. "
Stewart Lee
Things
Out
Tend
" If a gig goes badly, my main worry is, 'Will these people come back?' Because that will affect my ability to pay the mortgage - but nowadays, I don't really mind what happens, as I think if it all goes wrong for real, you still have to go with it. "
Stewart Lee
People
Worry
You
" Anyone in the arts has had an experience of seeing someone who they related to doing something and thinking, 'I could do that.' If you have one generation where you force its hand a bit, then the next one fills in the gaps, because it's seen an example of what can be done. "
Stewart Lee
Thinking
Experience
You
" For other comics, it's about full-spectrum dominance, being on panel shows and having one-liners and being a good chat show guest and having a good seven minutes you can do on 'Live At The Apollo.' But I really think about these subsequent finished pieces, you know? And they don't always chop up well into one-liners and routines. "
Stewart Lee
You
Always
Good
" I think what I do is borderline art. Most people who do borderline art have to have other jobs, so I'm very grateful. "
Stewart Lee
Most
People
Think
" I don't know where the ideas come from, and it's terrifying. They seem to be absolute flukes. When I was in my 20s, I'd walk around with a notebook all the time and make sure I wrote down anything that occurred to me. Now I'm just hoping that some sort of event will descend on me. "
Stewart Lee
Me
Walk
Time
" I don't think I'd want to be a comedian today if I saw it on the telly. I wouldn't think it was a thing for weirdoes and drop-outs; I'd think it was a thing for squares who wanted to be famous. "
Stewart Lee
Famous
Who
Think
" The idea of what's acceptable and what's shocking, that's where I investigate. I mean, you can't be on 'Top Gear,' where your only argument is that it's all just a joke and anyone who takes offence is an example of political correctness gone mad, and then not accept the counterbalance to that. "
Stewart Lee
Argument
Accept
You
" Controversy seems to be a by-product of what I do, rather like offence is the by-product of a dog urinating on the pavement. It just happens. "
Stewart Lee
Dog
Just
Like
" Oh, I can't sleep, whatever - it's a huge problem. The comedian's thing is you self-medicate with alcohol and knock yourself out - but obviously, that's not a long-term strategy. "
Stewart Lee
Alcohol
You
Yourself
" I'm in this for the long haul, I want to be doing this until I die. I am a standup comedian. I know a lot of people say I'm not, but I am. "
Stewart Lee
I Am
People
Long
" If I had grown up in London, I wouldn't have been as keen to become a comedian or a writer. I'd have been able to see a lot of good films and music and comedy. I'd have been distracted. As it was, I had to make it. "
Stewart Lee
Comedy
Become
Good
" I think Russell Brand's books should be criticised for being rubbish - but it is true that there's a professional class of opinion-former who has a financial interest in their job not being taken away. "
Stewart Lee
Professional
Job
Financial
" It's interesting to me that apparently distasteful comments from the Right against weak targets tend to draw a lot less media fire than apparently distasteful comments from the Left against hard targets. That's one of the threads that runs through the show and that people hopefully pick up on. "
Stewart Lee
Interesting
Fire
People
" The only reason I look back is to check if I've been doing something wrong. I look at things from even three years ago and think, 'I wouldn't do that now.' Your life changes. "
Stewart Lee
Changes
Think
Look
" Now I've got kids, you wouldn't want them to suffer because of a perception of you. I try to be very careful where I do things and make sure I know why I've done them. I wouldn't want them to be stigmatized. "
Stewart Lee
Want
You
Try
" Lots of stand-up showcases on TV are made by production companies that also represent acts as clients, so there tends to be a demonstrable bias towards a certain group of people. "
Stewart Lee
Production
Bias
Clients
" I work a lot of things out on stage nowadays rather than writing them in big blocks. "
Stewart Lee
Out
Stage
Writing
" In places like Glasgow and Newcastle, audiences have a tradition of being amusingly combative. But they're not trying to ruin the act, they're trying to give you a challenge. It's like a cat playing with a mouse - the cat doesn't want the mouse to die, it wants to keep it alive for its own amusement and to be entertained by its struggle. "
Stewart Lee
Challenge
Die
Struggle
" I think a comedian has to be low status on some level; that gives you the right to do all sorts of jokes about all sorts of different kinds of people. "
Stewart Lee
Jokes
Right
Think
" I read in the 'Daily Mail' that I'm one of these 'foul-mouthed comedians.' But I'm much cleaner than the people they like. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to think that a 70-year-old - particularly someone like Alan Bennett - would like it, because they've seen a lot of stuff. "
Stewart Lee
Me
Daily
Nothing