Merchandise

Lee & Herring Stuff

Here's the second series of the a Fist 'o' Fun for you all.

And you can finally answer the questions that have plagued mankind for years.
Was this the series that suffered from being hastily written and having its budget cut by a third?
Or was it the better series as our heroes are more comfortable on screen, and have refined their ideas?
Whatever way you look at it, this is the series that has a special place in the nation's heart as it features the moon on a stick, Rod Hull and of course Ian News.

It's been another lovely, mammoth task putting this four disc set together. There's even more here than there was in series 1.
For a start, there's six episodes, all with commentary from Rich and Stew. And episode six has an additional commentary from Rod Hull, Simon Quinlank and Kevin Eldon.
We've a video presentation of one of Rich's Leicester Square Theatre Podcasts. The one with Stewart Lee, where they discuss all matters arising - including that of Fist of Fun.

And we've got all the series 2 studio tapes, so you can finally see the proper ending to Episode 1, the legendary Goldilocks and the Three Men sketch, The Bootleg Bootleg Beatles amongst many, many more golden nuggets.

There's another extensive collection of files and curios in our DVD-Rom section - this time on disc 3 - and there's hidden features and extra treats sprinkled all over the place.
Buy it exclusively at Go Faster Stripe, here.

And so, 16 years after it first aired, you can now buy Fist of Fun!
Rich & Stew themselves have clubbed together with GoFasterStripe to buy the rights from the BBC and release it themselves, and so the complete first series is accompanied by the unaired pilot, commentaries on all episodes from Rich and Stew, commentaries on some episodes from Kevin Eldon and Ben Moor.
The now deleted Live At The Cochrane video (see below) & a short film of Rich and Stew reminiscing with a box of memorabilia from Rich's attic.
There's also studio rushes from some of the episodes; fluffed lines, warm up men, deleted sketches and more...
Scanned in scripts - both filmed and unfilmed, an mp3 bootleg of a live show recorded in Treforest that used to reside on this site, press releases, fan club information, images of props - and even some word documents that Rich found on his computer!
Buy it exclusively at Go Faster Stripe, here.

This compilation of Lee & Herring's breakthrough BBC radio show contains classics such as Stewart buying a porn video as a ironic joke, Rich's dating agency adventures, Geoffrey from Rainbow, Jesus, the Girl Who Smelt of Spam and the first appearence of driving instructor Peter Dibden.

It's long-since deleted, but you can download the full episodes that the compilations are taken from, here.

After the success of the first televsion run of "Fist Of Fun", the BBC commisioned this book from Rich & Stew as part of the merchandising campaign they launched in late 1995 for the 2nd series.
This was released alongside a "Best Of.." collection of the radio version of Fist Of Fun on CD & Casette and the "Live From The Cochrane" video.
Strangely, the campaign didn't feature a video release of the actual television show they were trying to promote, and it took until 2011 & Lee & Herring's own initiative to see an official release of the series itself.
The book, however, featured a wealth of material - some culled from radio & television - and some specifically written for this release.
A number of ideas would later be revisited & fleshed out in future projects (for example, the Organ Gang from TMWRNJ1). Certainly one of the better "cash in" books of it's type, this is a laugh-out-loud tour of the Lee & Herring universe. Sadly no longer available, it can still be picked up in second hand book shops, and downloaded from this very site.
Click here for downloads of the whole Fist Of Fun book.

The only video release the BBC gave Lee & Herring was this live recording of a show from their 1995 tour, described by Stew thusly;
"This live video of the Lee and Herring double act captures us at our worst, recorded in a rush at the beginning of a tour and with inaudible audience response.

A badly advised venture immediately available in garage forecourt discount bins.
Our performance on the inanely titled Comic Relief live video Rude For A Reason is also shit, and now completely unavailable."

Still, good or bad, it remains the only document of a Lee & Herring live show from the period & is included as an extra on the Fist Of Fun Series 1 DVD.

The aforementioned "Rude For A Reason" tape was a recording of a live show performed at the Brixton Academy in aid of Comic Relief.

On 19th / 20th June 1999, The Brixton Academy was taken over by a slew of comedians & entertainers as they mounted a campaign on behalf of Comic Relief to help combat the third world debt.

Among those appearing on the night were David Baddiel, Steve Coogan, Ali G, Goodness Gracious Me, Sean Lock, Matt Lucas & David Walliams, The Happy Mondays and Tim McInerny.

Lee & Herring's involvement appeared in two different edits, for commercial video release & the broadcast version that was aired on BBC1. You can view the video edit, here.

Miscellaneous Bits & Pieces

Not a comedy venture at all, but in 2001 both Rich & Stew guested as Cybermen in this Dr Who audio adventure starring Colin Baker as the 6th Doctor.
The show was broadcast over the internet before being released generally on CD.

You can find the original BBC page for it here and buy a copy of the CD here.

After 16 years, this much heralded radio show finally came to CD in it's entire, unedited form.
Long term fans may be aware that there was a dispute between various members of the team when the show transferred to TV as The Day Today, and the subsequent mid-90s cassette release was heavily edited to remove all traces of Lee & Herring's contributions as a result.
These 2008 CD editions finally redress the balance & re-instate all cuts to present the shows as broadcast.

Series 1 of On The Hour comes packaged in a deluxe case-bound book with 4 CDs containing 5 thirty-minute episodes, a Christmas special and the original pilot episode.

Series 2 of On The Hour comes packaged in a deluxe case-bound book with 4 CDs containing 6 thirty-minute episodes and extras including unheard Alan Partridge improvisation.

More info at the official website - onthehour.info

'Welcome to my folly', declared Robin Ince as he opens Nine Lessons... his massive sell-out Rationalist Celebration of comedy and science for Christmas.

With a star-studded line-up included Richard Dawkins, Stewart Lee, Josie Long, Simon Singh, Richard Herring, Gavin Osborn, Isy Suttie, Ben Goldacre, Andrew Collins, Waen Shepherd, Christina Martin and Philip Jeays - all accompanied by Martin White and his amazing Mystery Fax Machine Chamber Orchestra. What more could you ask for?....
Buy it exclusively at GoFasterStripe here.

Robin Ince's secular celebrations of Christmas have become something of an insitution in recent years.
And here's a souvenir from the third series of concerts recorded at the Bloomsbury Theatre on 15th December 2010.

This 2-CD set from Go Faster Stripe includes contributions from the following; Robin Ince, Josie Long, Ben Goldacre, Jim Bob, Adam Rutherford, Helen Arney, Richard Herring, Nick Doody, Ed Byrne, Mitch Benn, Matt Parker, Baba Brinkman, Jo Neary, Robyn Hitchcock, Stewart Lee, Simon Singh & Al Murray.
Buy it exclusively at GoFasterStripe here.

All 37 episodes of Time Gentlemen Please from 2000 - 2002.
Written by Al Murray & Richard Herring (and, in some cases, Stewart Lee), Time Gentlemen Please was a sitcom built around Al Murray's Perrier award winning character of 'The Pub Landlord', referred to only as "The Guv" in the show.

Time Gentlemen Please was initially comissioned for only 6 episodes, but due to unforseen popularity ran to two series and 37 episodes in total.
Members of the cast playing opposite Murray's xenophobic Landlord included Andrew Mackay, Phil Daniels, Julia Sawalha, Emma Pierson, Rebecca Front & Jason Freeman.
Rich himself popped up on occasion as Mike the (bean faced) Postman.
Buy it online here.

Cluub Zarathrustra was an unorthodox comedy club based in an Islington pub basement between 1994 and 1997. Anticipating Fist of Fun, The Mighty Boosh, and Jerry Springer: The Opera, it all happened here, presided over by The League Against Tedium.

Those who attended bore witness to the birth of today's finest comedy. They were also insulted, dribbled on, and forced to wear dunce's caps. But that was all part of the fun.

Robert Wringham's book documents this fleeting moment of comedy history, featuring contributions from Stew & Rich, who were both involved along the way...

Buy it at Go Faster Stripe.

Not Lee & Herring merchandise, admittedly, (although Stewart has written a foreword), "More Trees To Climb" is a book containing a collection of three stories by the brilliant Ben Moor - writer, actor, tree golfer, (long time L&H friend).
It's a compilation of three short stories that were once Edinburgh shows, now tweaked into prose.

Over the years, Ben has made several visits to the Edinburgh Festival with a series of one man plays. More Trees To Climb contains the two most recent shows; 2005's Coelacanth & 2008's Not Everything Is Significant alongside A Supercollider For The Family from 1997.

Ben's shows are consistently brilliant, funny, heartwarming, thoughtful & just generally great.
He is selling signed copies through his website - or you can buy direct from the publishers, Portobello books, or via amazon or any of the usual online (Or even, more traditional) methods.

Buy a copy, enjoy it, and tell your friends.

Richard Herring Merchandise

Over the course of this DVD, Richard Herring seeks to define and destroy love. Before love destroys him. Again.

Is love just a chemical reaction in our brains by which our body selects potential sexual partners or is it a magical force which guides us unerringly to our soul mate, oddly usually waiting until we're off our tits at a night club to do so?

'What is love, anyway?' is a heart-warmingly honest and personal examination of the romantic (and not so romantic) adventures and misadventures of the UK's most prolific comedian, as well as a genuine attempt to define this mysterious, debilitating, evil and wondrous emotion.

As usual, there's a big pile of extras. These include the first ever televised Me1 vs Me2 snooker frame, a chat about how much of the show was actually true, some abandoned poetry and an episode of the Manhattan Cable TV show Media Funhouse.
And have you ever wanted to know what happened on Rich’s wedding night? Well wonder no more - we’ve got the tape!
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Jesus Christ - Son of God! Saviour of mankind! Superstar!
Richard Herring - Son of Keith, a retired headmaster! Once saved a spider that had become trapped in his bath, only crushing three of its legs in the process! Hosted 10 episodes of a chatshow about poker on a satellite channel which subsequently closed down!

At first sight they have little in common. Or do they?
Join Rich as he answers this question, substantially reworking his first and favourite solo work, Christ on a Bike.
Now ten years older than the Messiah when he died, has Herring achieved as much with his life?
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Has Adolf Hitler ruined that moustache for everyone?
The only place you will see it these days is carved into a woman's pubic hair.

Is it possible to reclaim the toothbrush moustache for comedy?
After all, Chaplin had it first.
Here is Richard's latest DVD, available only from us as three-DVD-and-one-moustache set.

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

In The Headmaster's Son, a nostalgic and faintly disturbing juvenile romp through the 1980s, Richard Herring considers what could possibly be worse than being a podgy, swotty, virginal schoolboy.
What if your dad's the headmaster too?

Here's Rich's show, captured over two discs at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, and on location at Rich's parent's house in Cheddar.

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

This is a recording of the show made in March 2008, when Rich was coming to the end of his 40th year. And much like an old man's belly, this release is our most bloated to date. So bloated in fact that we need another disc to fit everything on.
So, as well as the usual extras like an interview and photo slide show, there's a specially shot documentary retracing Rich's infamous night in Liverpool, a video version of Rich's podcast with Andrew Collins, the complete one off comedy drama 'A Very British Cult' and lots more.

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Ménage à un sees Herring consolidate his position as one of the UK’s most uncompromising and innovative stand-ups in a show which deals with loneliness, only-ness and Onanism, and attempts to determine whether three-in-a-bed sex romps are really better than one-in-a-bed sex romps.

Along the way he reveals why Olivio is the most dangerous spread for the confirmed bachelor, claims that we can save humanity by having sex with sea creatures and discusses the existential angst of being a comedy character who exists solely to deliver a disappointing punch-line.
He also provides the correct solution to the Riddle of the Sphinx, proposes that the English should rename apples ‘sky potatoes’ in order to demonstrate the ultimate folly of the French, and controversially calls for the disenfranchisement of the stupid.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

In his excellent Someone Likes Yoghurt, Herrring shares with us his world of gonorrhoea-transmiting magpies, his attempts to become successor to Pope John Paul II, and his local supermarket's utterly humiliating new checkout service: the grocery interrogation.

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

In the Twelve Tasks of Hercules Terrace, Rich shares with us his mission to make something of his sad comedian's existence through a catalogue of seemingly impossible challenges.
So will he succeed in running the marathon, going skydiving, and dating 50 women in 50 nights?

Or will he fail in his vain attempt to prove his superiority to the Greek demi-god?
And does stealing Germaine Greer's bra strictly count as a Herculean task? Yes - I suppose it does.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

On November 25th 2002, comedian Richard Herring began writing a blog.
He called it Warming Up as his hope was that the exercise would help him overcome his writer’s block and get in the mood for a day of writing. It didn’t quite work out as he hoped. Most days Warming Up was all he achieved.
But he has kept on writing, every single day, for over six years and instead created an insight into his life and the inner recesses of his brain.
Bye Bye Balham is a collection of the first couple of hundred days of this impressive project, all in handy, easy to carry book form.

Plus Richard reveals what was going on behind the scenes at the time, detailing the things that seemed too personal to mention at the time, as well as a retrospective of what he makes of the 35 year old him, now that he is in his forties.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Rich Says: How Not To Grow Up is much more honest and open about various disgraceful ridiculous things I got up to. It's much more of a narrative about the year whereas Bye Bye Balham I spent a bit of time editing and adding information.

I see that book and, if we do any more of those, again as a DVD extra. They're for people who really, really like me and love the blogs and maybe don't want to read it all on a computer screen.
How Not To Grow Up is more of a book that people who are not necessarily fans of mine might be interested in.

There's a crossover with both Oh Fuck, I'm 40! and the blogs but there's a hell of a lot of extra stuff I was actually up to which I don't really tend to talk about in the blogs.
Click here to buy from Amazon

It has been known by many different names to many different people.
Knob, dick, schmuck, rod, tool, percy, John Thomas, the bald headed mouse, the yoghurt-spitting sausage, Kojak's Moneybox, the salty salami, the sergeant with one blue stripe who loves to stand to attention, Captain Winky, the pink lighthouse that wants to draw you onto its rocks, the sentimental teaser, the arrow of desire, the crimson butterfly, the flute of love and of course Russell the fur-faced chicken.
It has meant different things to different cultures.

To the Ancient Greeks the penis was worshipped and people paraded the streets with six foot high phalluses. To early Christians it was the Devil's Rod, a thing of evil shape and issue that must be hidden away at all times. To the people of the 1980s the funniest thing imaginable was a wicked cartoon willie that could speak. How times change.
It inspires lust, fear, awe and laughter. And yet, it is an object of shame and when engorged, indecency. And though men may brag and exaggerate about their little chap, they rarely talk about their feelings for it. Whilst women celebrate their sexuality in worldwide smash "The Vagina Monologues", men are twisting their genitals into the shape of hamburgers in "Puppetry of the Penis".
Isn't it time for the twisting to stop and the schlong celebration to begin. Isn't it time for a Vagina Monologues with balls?

Talking Cock is currently out of print, but you might be able to find a copy on Amazon Marketplace.

As It Occurs To Me, (or AIOTM) is an award-winning internet stand up and sketch show that began hesitantly in October 2009 and ended in June 2011.
It was the brainchild of Richard Herring who roped in TV's Emma Kennedy, Dan Tetsell, Christian Reilly on the guitar and producer Ben Walker to produce 3 series of the show.

This DVD, brought to you again by GoFasterStripe, features everyepisode of AIOTM plus all the scripts, all the standup that Rich did to introduce the second and third series.
The standup for the third series has not been heard before - unless you were in the audience.
And there's all the video that was in the secret standup DVD & a little double sided poster too!
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

The sequel to The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire & Water. For continuity, it too was professionally recorded in a studio, and this time carries a Russian literary theme.
1. WAR
What is it good for? A roll-call of all Andrew’s Action Men, a nostalgic look back at life in the shadow of the neutron bomb, the insulting numbering of world wars and a reasoned discussion about the New Pearl Harbour.
2. PEACE
Sticking two peace-increasing fingers up to John Lennon’s lyrics, lucid dreaming without recourse to illegal marijuana, Shaggy’s unlikely relatives, and a talk Richard’s parents went to about dirty bombs.
3. CRIME
A charge sheet is read out, including: theft of a Twix, some deodorants, pick’n’mix and a hairdryer, failing to use the rear-view mirror, straying from one travel zone into another, and child murder
4. PUNISHMENT
In the same casual manner, Diana Mitford survives internment in Holloway in 1940, a cat is sprayed with water, Richard has a Twitter debate about stoning, and the existence of God is proved/disproved, slightly off-topic

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Four exclusive, brand new, non-topical podcasts from Andrew Collins and Richard Herring, not available elsewhere, on the following themes:
1. EARTH
From fertilizer sacks and archeological digs to worms, Pompeii, the ashes of 70s glam rock stars and the weight of a soul, we get our hands dirty with existential matters and wonder why soil rubbed on bodies is so attractive.
2. WIND
From flyaway hair and the Great Storm of 1987 to the clearing of custard, security at John Lennon Airport, the Windy City of Chicago, Ian Clooney and Andrew's many elemental childhood fears, we talk a lot of wind.
3. FIRE
From the Hindenberg disaster, chip pan fires and Camp America to the dangers of bonfire night, Abbot & Costello and the imperilled but essentially safe pets in disaster movies, we cook with gas.
4. WATER
From Kingsthorpe Swimming Pool, soluble aspirins and amniotic fluid to Holiday Inn showers, saving the same fly's life and the smell of Venice, we lead the horse of improvisational comedy to water but cannot make it drink.

Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Stewart Lee Merchandise

What can a sexless middle aged married man, whose life now consists mainly of watching Scooby Doo cartoons with a four year old boy, possibly find to write comedy about?

Formerly stand-up's youthful iconoclast, Lee now gawps blankly at News 24 as Britain burns down around him, and blinks weirdly at the vast wayside retail outlets during endless journeys to and from increasingly indistinct provincial theatres.
Once he lived on the pleasure planet. Now he is trapped in Carpet Remnant World.
And so are you.
Lee's new DVD (OUT 12/11/12) will feature a live recording (from Sheffield, Lyceum Theatre) of the 2012 show 'Carpet Remnant World' and some really good extras. Buy online here

"The comedian of the decade" returns with a second outing for his BAFTA-nominated series.

"Britain's twelfth best stand-up comedian" delivers six self-contained sets, staged and shot to capture the real intensity of live comedy as never before seen on the small screen.

See Stew discuss Charity, Crisps, Urban living, The 1980s, National identity and David Cameron, with guest appearances from comics guru Alan Moore and a giant Japanese moth.

Buy online here

In each episode Stewart sets out to answer a question that addresses a specific aspect of modern life; "Why", for example, "is there a tide of banal books in bookshops threatening to engulf us? Does the world really need celebrity hardbacks?" Stewart's on a journey to find out - and meets some interesting authors along the way. "Has political correctness really gone mad, or is it just that a lot of people confuse political correctness with health and safety legislation?" Stewart tries to pick his way through the PC minefield, and reveals how it only made him put on weight.

Stewart sets out to discover the truth about popular television duo Ant and Dec, and visits a quaint English village where The Funniest Thing That's Ever Been On Television Ever has given rise to a unique rural tradition. Sort of.
Whatever the topic, Stewart addresses it with razor sharp wit, using every argument at his disposal to convey his point.
And you'l have learned something along the way (which may or may not be true).
Buy online here

Stew says, “In this show, an account of something that happened to me in a coffee shop will be used as a convenient framing device for disparate material possibly concerning English Heritage, Top Gear, The Olympics, emigration, prawns, Bella Pasta, The National Trust, farmers, DH Lawrence, piglets, cathedrals, bees, Iggy Pop, cider adverts, riots etc etc.”
As usual, expect …
1) Some punchy stuff near the top 2) inexplicable hostility towards relatively innocuous figures
3) silences 4) repetition 5) sudden and/or gradual shifts in tone, velocity and volume
6) long routines experimenting with form rather than content 7) the possibility of failure 8) a quasi-serious bit at the end. 9) New for 2009! A song!

Buy it online here

In 2007, Stewart Lee was voted the 41st best stand-up of all time in an official Channel 4 poll, apparently better than Lenny Bruce but not as good as Jim Davidson.

But what real difference does this accolade make? His TV pilot has been cancelled, his mother still thinks the 1970s game show host Tom O'Connor is funnier than him, and he's been booked to perform stand-up for a conference of insect scientists for no money, while dressed as an aphid.
Lucky for us, the more frustrating Stewart's life becomes, the funnier he gets.
The 2007/8 show was recorded at The Stand, Glasgow on April 7th and released through Real Talent in July 2008.
It’s come out really well and there’s some good extras extras including a 45 minute interview conducted by Johnny Vegas and Stewart's performance at Pestival - 'the international Arts Pestival dedicated to raising awareness of the integral role insects play in the global ecosystem'..
Buy it online here

Stewart Lee's tour de force, 90s Comedian, has been dubbed so controversial (along with his directing debut Jerry Springer – the Opera) that none of the big DVD manufacturers would touch it with a barge pole.

Which is a shame, and is why the fearless Go Faster Stripe stepped in and offered to organise a special one-off evening's performance to capture this man's unmitigated comedic genius and preserve it on DVD for posterity.
Although it looks suspicious, this is none of your bootleg crap – it's all proper with special features like an interviewette, extra special cut-out bits, a photo gallery – oh, and a script for a Joe Pasquale joke.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Stewart Lee's first commercially released DVD was a recording of his 2004 Edinburgh show;
"Standup Comedian".

It was recorded at The Stand in Glasgow in March 2005 & released by 2Entertain later that year.

Despite great press for the release, & respectable sales the distributor 2entertain, declined their option to produce a follow up release.
It was this decision that lead Chris Evans to form GoFasterStripe as a vehicle to release Stew's 90s Comedian.
Buy it online here.

A 27 min poor quality, but historically important, documentation of Stewart Lee's first recorded set.

In order to give some gravitas to the cd, GoFasterStripe have packaged it in a little gatefold sleeve which includes a newspaper review of the gig.

Also in the package is a poster which features a picture of Stew when he was young and beautiful on one side, and a facsimile of the original publicity for the gig on the other.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

This three CD set is all that remains of Stew's ace theatre show.

WHAT WOULD JUDAS DO? Was first performed in the autumn of 2006 at Battersea Arts Centre as one of their enormously important, work-in-progress Scratch Nights.

The idea was to know the story of the last week of Judas’ life as well as possible and then kind of throw it away, and tell it anecdotally, like someone remembering a series of events.
These three, not terribly hi-fi, recordings are all that remains of What Would Judas Do?
They are about 20% different from each other.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Between 2001 and 2003, Stewart Lee worked on Pea Green Boat. It featured a deconstruction of Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat.

After several attempts, it proved financially unviable as a live performance.
A version was recorded for Radio 4 shortly after - and then Go Faster Stripe came into existence, and a commercial release became viable.

This is not the live show, or the Radio 4 version, but a new specially recorded version, produced by Jane Watkins.
Pea Green Boat is available on CD, or as a limited edition 10'' single.
Buy it here, exclusively at GoFasterStripe

Following his hugely acclaimed TV come-back, Comedy Vehicle, Lee finds himself spent and in search of ideas for a new Edinburgh show.
On a long walk across London, he endures a coffee shop humiliation involving a loyalty card, which suggests itself as a comedy routine about everyday life that anyone could enjoy.
Later that month, thanks to Jeremy Clarkson's jokes about Gordon Brown's blindness and the appearance of a well-meaning young comedian in a pear cider advert, a show is born.

Featuring a transcript of the show fully annotated with footnotes, the If You Prefer A Milder Comedian EP confirms Stewart Lee as the most original, daring and brilliant comedian of his generation.
Buy it online here

Experience how it feels to be the subject of a blasphemy prosecution! Find out why ‘wool’ is a funny word! See how jokes work, their inner mechanisms revealed, before your astonished face!
In 2001, after over a decade in the business, Stewart Lee quit stand-up, disillusioned and drained, and went off to direct a loss-making opera about Jerry Springer. How I Escaped My Certain Fate details his return to live performance, and the journey that took him from an early retirement to his position as the most critically acclaimed stand-up in Britain.

Here is a blow-by-blow account of his snail-paced comeback, in the form of annotated transcripts of the three full-length shows that sealed his reputation, and details of his professional trials during the period.

Click here to buy online

Stewart Lee's debut novel, published in June 2001 by Fourth Estate.
From the back of the book: "The Perfect Fool" charts the progress of a collection of misfits, spread across the wide open spaces of Arizona & the narrow streets of South London, all unwittingly caught up in a quest for the Holy Grail.

Mr Lewis believes he was once an astronaut; Sid & Danny's Dire Straits covers band isn't exactly filling the pubs of Streatham; Tracy travels between Las Vegas & the Mexican border, fleeing the suspicion that she's a serial killer; Bob, a Native American clown, no longer finds anything funny; Luther, and acid casualty 60s rock star, has long since forgotten the most basic chord shapes; and Peter Rugg lost a cigarette down the back of a Portobello Road sofa thirty years ago and is still looking for it.

These seemingly unrelated individuals eventually collide in the deserts of the American South West, where they form an uneasy alliance.
Stewart Lee's first novel combines an eclectic range of characters and cultures with an instinctive comic touch."

Peter Orton's film of Jerry Springer : The Opera.

The DVD is the recording that was broadcast on BBC2 in January 2005.
The CD is the original cast recording.
buy DVD | buy CD