If You Prefer A Milder Comedian

Hugh Laurie said recently that, as a teenager, he had listened to his Monty Python records so attentively and with such regularity that he could even hear the background fizz of tiny fuses being lit to create gunshot effects. In my case, the same is true of Stewart Lee, which is why he occupies a strongly contested seat among the heavyweights of the banner. His 2004 comeback routine, Stand-Up Comedian has passed through my speakers, in one form or another, somewhere between forty and fifty times. I know every line, every pause, every tonal inflection, every bout of laughter, and every round of applause (even if embarrassingly perpetrated by a single audience-member). And yet, dear reader, it never fails to make me laugh. Over the last couple of years, in which I've ventured forth to actually see him perform, he has mentioned on more than one occasion how some "cunts" have pirated his material online. Your humble blost felt it impossible not to writhe shrinkingly into his chair at these points, as I have, it is widely known, comprehensively circulated his 2007 show, 41st Best Stand-Up Comedian, in bitesize chunks around YouTube. One should be aware; I haven't profited from these videos in any way, and I've made sure not to succumb to the temptation to add the dreaded "advertising" that YouTube proposes on an almost daily basis in my inbox. Advertising on YouTube, as we all know, is a byword for thumb-screwing. I do, however, have his 2010 routine crudely chopped up and idly waiting to be uploaded to YouTube. My question to you, my most ardent and deranged followers, is: should I do it? Had it not been for Stewart's public reprimand I probably wouldn't think twice. Isn't it strange?