It can be heard again all this week at: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/innervoices/pip/6f82c/Stewart Lee is a good friend and also the most intelligent, funny and perceptive comedian I ever saw. A few of the T'ai Chi folks came to see his awesome Aberdeen show with me this December (which Jim has recorded, a CD may be produced soon) and met him whilst he stayed here. At the moment he is being attacked on all sides by an unholy coalition of (wait for it) the BNP and right-wing Christians calling itself 'Stop Springer', for his theatre piece 'Jerry Springer: The Opera'. None of them seems to have actually taken the trouble to go and see the play, which is an incredible satire on crass modern culture and also a meditation on redemption, with great songs and costumes thrown in... I saw it at Battersea Arts Centre years ago when it was still being written and found it to be full of depth and insight into our celebrity obsessed culture: far from the 'blasphemous' play that it is accused of being. It seems strange that is not ok to question the assumptions and fundamentalism of our own popular culture and yet that it is alright to align oneself with a 'political party' that is little more than a front for racists and homophobes - the BNP. I wish Stewart luck and strength dealing with these folks, as they are hardly known for listening to considered arguments, and are unhappy with the idea of freedom of speech...
On Radio 4 at 11.15pm on Wednesday his 2005 piece based on the story of 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat' will be aired again and I recommend it. Last time it was on I only caught a few minutes of the end, but again, had seen a staged version in London, which was both haunting and moving. The popular nursery rhyme is used as the boat on which to float ideas about love, obsession, unfortunate events and the difficulty of playing even rudimentary chords on a guitar with wings, instead of hands.
Stewart Lee's website is www.stewartlee.co.uk
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