Alexei Sayle's Stuff

Sure, Alexei isn't always spot on, and sure, he's much easier to follow if the viewer is at least a little drunk (the more the merrier). Nevertheless, the way he opens his shows alone is worth the price of admission, whether it's the small children singing "Who's an ugly bastard and as fat as he can be..." a la The Mickey Mouse Club, or whether a handsome man with a glamorous woman drives up in a Jaguar convertible, walks in, and transforms himself into the familiar Alexei we all know and love only to have the receptionist ask in amazement, "Who's that fat bastard?!"

This is the 80s at their best, or perhaps their worst. Unemployment, political turmoil, pointless angst in a world where superpowers are still pointing ICBMs at one another, Thatcherism... it's all enough to drive one insane, and maybe in Mr. Sayle's case it did.

Funny and irreverent in its own right, Alexei's "Stuff" is even funnier to me since I had to watch on PBS, the local public TV station in California that at the time prided itself in its "open-minded" attitude and was mostly patronized by affluent, upper-class, left-wing "intellectuals." Picture these people sending in money in the name of art and enlightenment, only to have Alexei come on screen and announce he's fond of writing the numbers from the front of buses on small pieces of paper before crumbling them up and inserting them in his rectum! It still gives me a chuckle.

"Stuff" isn't for everyone. Between the gems there are, frankly, some moments where Alexei is off on some tangent or other and despite his best intentions it just doesn't always translate well to today's audience. Kids will love it though, as there's always a funny outfit and a silly song to chant, and Alexei does dance quite well when he initially comes out in a suite 2 sizes too small.

If you would like your kids to share the memories with you, and to be able to recite things like "Is it fat, bald, and Jewish in here or is it just me?" and of course "Who *IS* that fat bastard?!" then get the DVD release and indoctrinate them as early as possible. Alexei Sayle gets my vote over The Wiggles any day!

Stuff is the best comedy series, and it is amazing how a comedian can come up with such original stuff for so long. Unlike other comedians he does not constantly recycle jokes through various characters. Very funny stuff.

Alexei Sayle and his writers somehow managed to make several series of surreal humour and not be compared to Monty Python, even with Cleese-a-like Angus Deyton in the days before he disappeared up his own smug a**e.

Largely unnoticed at the time and widely unrepeated, this was a series that deserved more credit than it was ever given. By the time the BBC had woken up to what they had, the series had turned into something resembling light entertainment instead of the confident and unapologetic oddness in "Stuff".

A few too many song and dance routines though. And more often than not they just weren't funny, as clearly demonstrated in his mid-80s LP "Panic".

Is it fat, bald and jewish in here or is it just me...?

Alexei Sayle produced one of the finest programs ever seen on BBC2, recording three series of 'stuff'. The supporting cast were excellent. Alexei was able to combine his top class stand up material with amusing and downright bizarre sketches.

Favourites of mine include the Freddy Krueger Opera sketch, the post office song ( £50 stamp ), Candid Cardinal, Dick Van Dyke - 50 years of Alexei Sayle, Snow White and the Seven Samurai, Lesley Crowther dominated episode, 'I'm pissed' ( Here come the Lizards ), and many others. It seemed that every single sketch or monologue was written and performed to perfection.

Alexei Yuri Gagarin Moscow Dinamo Back 4 Glorious 5 year plan Stalin Tractor Sayle, I salute you.

If any single individual epitomised the alternative comedy movement of the '80's, it was Alexei Sayle. Looking like a newly released convict whose suit has gotten too small for him, he bludgeoned audiences into submission with a powerful blend of surreal humour and satire. Love him or hate him, you couldn't ignore him. 'Stuff' was a good vehicle for his talents, in which the man himself sped round London on a moped, ranting on topics as diverse as fox hunting, The Royal Family, and Margaret Thatcher, as well as sketches penned by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall, some of which wouldn't have looked out of place in their L.W.T. show 'End Of Part One'. I remember one funny ( and politically incorrect! ) item about a Japanese car factory in the Midlands run like a W.W.2 P.O.W. camp! Three different title sequences were used ( the best was the Walt Disney spoof with Alexei as Mickey Mouse! ), all ended with someone asking: "Who's that fat bastard?". Genius more like.