   “Lewis Schaffer is Free until Famous” Show
Doors: 7pm Show: 8pm Entry: FREE 
Lewis Schaffer, the contentious New York comic being held hostage in Britain, returns to London for a limited run of free Wednesday shows starting Wednesday 21 October 2009. Lewis Schaffer goes from unlovable loser to alpha male winner as he battles the demons that have kept him down - including phone-smashing yobs in an Edinburgh bar. Lewis Schaffer combines biting social and political satire with self-destruction and self-regeneration to take his story of rebirth to the people in a free show. In bring the Free Festival concept from Edinburgh, no admission charge will be collected. A collection will be made after the show and the audience gives as they see fit. “Lewis Schaffer is Free until Famous” Free - No Admission Charge. Collection Made After the Show. 2009 QUOTES Chortle - Edinburgh 2009 **** [Four Stars] "…a tour-de-force performance from a comic who’s been on the ropes but definitely come back bigger and bolder, connecting bang on the funnybone." http://bit.ly/1naSEA The Scotsman - Edinburgh 2009 **** [Four Stars] "Blows a hurricane of freshness through many tried and tested subjects. Almost every laugh he gives us he then tops with another, bigger laugh. His jokes might have another comic arrested." http://bit.ly/13djFE The Stage – Edinburgh 2009 “Possibly the most unpredictable comic at the fringe. In short, he is unique.” http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/639 The London Evening Standard 2009 “Something interesting in clearly going on here. He would be infinitely funnier if he provoked less and focused more, though probably a lot less fascinating.” http://bit.ly/EveningStandard2009 The Londonist 2009 “Controversial… self-destructive… unforgiveable. Three people walked out. Benjamin Franklin would have been turning in his grave.” http://londonist.com/tags/lewisschaffer Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award Winner for the best publicity stunt at the Edinburgh Fringe, 2009 Reviews: Few comedians can grab a show by the scruff of the neck quite like Lewis Schaffer. And absolutely no other comedian can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like Schaffer. The Brooklyn-born, Peckham-based stand-up admitted on stage that his previous gigs have been described as brilliant before “descending into nothingness” — a fair assessment of last night’s proceedings. There were frequent moments when this test-flight for new material looked like soaring. During a brisk routine on the complexities of race issues following the US election, for example, he hit a number of satirical bullseyes. Elsewhere his middle-aged Jewish New Yorker schtick beautifully captured both the neuroses of Woody Allen and the infectious cadences of Jackie Mason. Yet, too often, his train of thought was thoroughly derailed and he went way off-topic. Something interesting is clearly going on here. Schaffer undeniably has funny bones, he just lacks discipline. As delightful as it was to learn of his prostate problems, this was probably not part of the planned set. He was much better when he channelled his frustrations and angst into exploring the differences between Brits and Americans. He wants more chums, he confessed, but he has only lived here for eight years and repressed Brits take nine years to make a new friend. Schaffer also clearly enjoys doing dark comedy when the mood takes him, tossing in the odd Holocaust grenade here and Shannon Matthews bombshell there, and seems to revel in winding up his audience to get an angry response. It feels at times as if he is determined to sabotage his own show. He would be infinitely funnier if he provoked less and focused more, though probably a lot less fascinating. Evening Standard - Bruce Dessau 5 March 2009 It used to be that Lewis Schaffer was considered something of a comics’ comic – but for all the wrong reasons. He had a reputation not just for dying, but dying so spectacularly, that every other stand-up in the room would be compelled to watch, enjoying his often self-inflicted suffering with huge dollops of schadenfreude. Now, though, he seems to be finding a fresh focus, which is bad news for his sadistic colleagues, but better news for comedy-goers. Not that he’s found an exciting new approach, in fact it’s almost as old as stand-up itself: a brash, opinionated Jewish New Yorker bitching about the world in punchy, acerbic one-liners, while subtly revealing his own failings. He has the confidence – arrogance? – of knowing his point of view is correct, and won’t hold back on sharing it. Such unambiguity gives him a natural authority and his material a black-and-white clarity. And coming from where he does, the short, sharp rhythms of stand-up are in his DNA. He’s lived in Britain for seven years, and this has given him an insight into the way our national psyche works, which he combines to good effect with gags about his homeland. All this, and he’s unabashedly self-absorbed, too, getting plenty of bitching about his ex-wife off his chest, in some delightfully bitter asides. With a jagged edge to his gags and a natural command over the audience, Schaffer is on his way back… The UK Comedy Guide June 2007
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6 January (Wednesday) - Lewis Schaffer is Free until Famous
