Extended Stewniverse: Daniel Kitson's Pith

Across the Stew-niverse: A podcast about Stewart Lee

Melancholy. Hopeful. Whimsical. Poetic. Bearded. These are just some of the accusatory adjectives that have been laid at the feet of the Yorkshire born overlord of theatrical stand-up, Daniel Kitson. To understand the sheer breadth of his influence upon the comedy scene in the UK and beyond would take more words than the count here allows, so you'll have to settle for me telling you that this man is a pretty big fucking deal, actually. And all the better for the casual comedy punter having not got the foggiest idea who he is.

To understand the man, you have to look at his work, so this episode sees Dan and Joe take a road trip to Manchester to witness a work in progress attempt at Pith, a melancholy, hopeful, whimsical, poetic, and still quite beardy mix of stand-up and storytelling. The show demonstrates exactly why Daniel Kitson is so revered by his peers, as well as critics and comedy nerds, and other assorted undesireable folk that you wouldn't want to take home to Mother.

Dan and Joe loved it so much that they wanted an excuse to talk about it on the pod, and figured that Stew proclaiming Daniel Kitson to be "all comedians' favourite comedian" is good enough reason to shoehorn it in.