Lost Features Tuesday: Doug Stanhope, Alex MacQueen and much much more...

 

 

 

After stock prices and the weather, few parts of the average newspaper seem to have struggled to adjust to the digital age quite as much as the editorial cartoon. 2007 may sound recent, but in terms of how the newspaper industry has changed, it's an absolute age ago – and the importance with which Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell talks about his work shows what a weird other world the past is.

 

Eerily relevant quote after Blair's performance at Leveson a few weeks ago: “Blair hasn’t changed much in essence since he became leader. He’s built himself up for a fall the way he sees himself as this political icon,” Bell says. “But to be honest,” he continues, “I don’t hate him the same way I hated Thatcher.”

 

Read: The Art of Comedy

 

 

 

 

 

As a fellow journalist who has dealt with a drunk Stanhope, I can sympathise with this rather bruising encounter outside the Soho Theatre. Stanhope has settled into faux-anger in the last year or so, but this is from a time when the vitriol was still very much real...

 

We're glad we weren't doing this interview: “These are the worst fucking questions in the world - this is every reason I would not want to do an interview. ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ I don’t know - where do you get ideas from?”

 

Read: No Stanhope

 

Harry now runs Deansways in Bethnal Green and tweets over here. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Humourdor says: We were pretty excited to do this interview, because our initial plan was to interview not only comedians, but people involved in the industry. Chris is a guy who basically got sick of not seeing any good comedy DVDs, so he started making them himself and selling them for reasonable prices - basically the Dischord Records of comedy.

 

Evans on the Lee Effect: “We were lucky enough to release Stewart Lee’s 90s Comedian first. That sold really well, and has given us reasonable financial security, so we just use our “Stew Money” to pay for new releases.”

 

Read: An interview with Chris Evans of Go Faster Stripe.

 

 

 

 

 

Alex MacQueen has carved himself an impressive niche as an actor who can capture the pettiness of hummus-class beta males (we've re-read that about eight times and it's still the closest we can get to capturing him) who crops up in every cult show, from the Thick of It to the Inbetweeners. He speaks here about virtually every show he's done on radio and TV. Even Krod Mandoon. Tenner says that's not on his (anyone's) CV anymore. 

 

Okay, maybe he's not that good: “I only got into the world of The Thick Of It, in fairness, because I did an advert for Utterly Butterly...”

 

Read: Alex MacQueen interview

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Fleckney, editor of London Is Funny, says: So many young comics look up to Stewart Lee and wear his influences quite heavily on their sleeves, I thought it would make a good article. It's also interesting how unlike "rock dinosaurs" in music, who stopped evolving years ago, Lee is still developing, and his role in comedy is too – whether he's alternative or mainstream is never quite clear.

 

A view into what comedy contest judges really think: “Of the 16 young comics we watched that night...just one solitary performer managed a routine without dipping into some deconstruction, provocation, mapping the audience's laughter, heavy repetition, self-commentary, irony and all those other things that define Lee's style.”

 

Read: Stewart Lee – the most influential comic in stand up?