Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf

Stewart Lee is back at The Kings Theatre on Thursday 3 September, his first Portsmouth date since his sold-out visit in 2025. This time he's not alone: he's sharing the stage with The Man-Wulf, a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The whole thing is framed around Lee's own self-deprecating take on his career — approaching sixty, with debilitating health conditions and a diminished TV profile, he asks whether he can unleash his inner Man-Wulf to stand alongside comedy legends like Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and Jordan Peterson.

It's a strange setup, but it fits the way Lee works. He's always been as interested in the mechanics of stand-up as in the jokes themselves, and this is no different. The Man-Wulf acts as a foil, a creature that lets him play with the idea of his own public image and the gap between the comedian on stage and the person behind it. If you've seen him before, you'll know he's not afraid to stop a routine halfway through to explain why it's not working, or to take a long, slow look at the audience until the silence becomes the punchline. The Man-Wulf just gives him another character to bounce off, and a way to push that self-scrutiny even further.

There's a fair bit of weight behind the name, too. The Times has called him 'the world's greatest living stand-up comedian', and an official Channel 4 survey of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups Ever put him at number 41. Ricky Gervais described him as 'the funniest, most cliche-free comedian on the circuit', Metro called him 'superlative', and The Independent noted he's 'the only comedian who can get away with deconstructing and critiquing his own routines as he goes along and not be repellent'.

It's a one-night-only show, so if you want to see it, you'll need to get your tickets sorted in advance. The performance starts at 7:30pm, and tickets start from £29.