Stewart Lee has basically done nothing but perform stand up comedy and write, produce and direct various comedic ventures for the entirety of his adult life. He found moderate fame in the 90s, then co-wrote and directed Jerry Springer The Opera, which later got hounded from stage and screen by far-right Christian pressure groups after becoming popular with mainstream audiences. He has always been on the cusp of mainstream popularity himself, though he has been producing consistently excellent material throughout his professional career in spite of never quite ‘breaking through’ to the other side. Like many of the best comedians Lee does not want universal appeal, and often seeks the approval of the minority over acceptance by the majority, for whom he regularly expresses distaste. This is partly acknowledged by the title of his new stand up show ‘If you prefer a milder comedian, please ask for one’ which has been running since August. Lee has just started a run at the Leicester Square Theatre in London, and I caught the first performance on Monday.

There is nothing safe about a Stewart Lee gig. He cuts an almost menacing figure on stage, stalking about and speaking in a monotone voice, only flashing his gaze over the audience intermittently. The thrust of his delivery gradually builds as each set piece monologue progresses, climaxing in miniature outburst of comedic protest. Lee deliberately patronises the audience when it reacts in a certain way to a joke, and then deconstructs that reaction in order to explain the parts which he believes are actually the most humorous. It’s a style that relies on repetition and condescension, and yet Lee is the only comedian brave enough to continue with this unique and ‘risky’ mode of address in a world where physical and observational comedy dominates. As a result he is a breath of fresh air, and more like a rock star than any of his contemporaries who are now playing to thousands of people in megadomes around the UK. He also wants to be seen as a tragic/romantic/poetic figure, and it is refusal to adjust his tone and style to the lowest common denominator that makes him so good.

His latest show levels critiques at targets as diverse as Top Gear, country living, Magners Cider and Café Nero. It manages to be thought provoking as well as face-achingly funny, and Lee seeks to define the realms of offensiveness through a relentless adherence to political correctness, as is consistent with the themes of his most recent batch of stand up shows. If you are sick of the macho world of stand up inhabited by panel show regulars, bored by the bland Live at the Apollo performers and physically repulsed by Michael McIntyre, then I urge you to head to London and watch Stewart Lee. Though if you fall into the above category they you’ll probably be well aware of Lee’s work, and should have booked tickets already. The run lasts until 17th January 2010, and, as Lee makes clear in the show, he is not likely to make a DVD of this current set, so there’s only a limited amount of time to see a comedian who is without question the funniest stand up working in Britain today.

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