Following on from John's championing of the excellent Replay, another independent DVD production has come to my easily distracted attention. Now, excuse me while I play with this ball of string for a moment.

Anyway, the company is called Go Faster Stripe and they've come into existence with the purpose to record and release DVDs of stand-up performers who would otherwise be overlooked by the whorish mainstream. What an utterly excellent idea.

They currently have only one release, and boy what a corker it is. It’s Stewart Lee - 90s Comedian and WHY HAVE'NT YOU BOUGHT IT YET, DO IT, DO IT NOW.

I'm likely to write a proper review in time, but just in case that damn ball of string wrestles my attention away again, I'll say a few words about it here. It's brilliant. Really brilliant. If this was a mainstream release it would be a perfectly solid, good release. Since it's been made by a small group of mates with no previous commerical experience is just wonderful. The picture quality, the sound quality, the directing, the presentation and the lovely slip case (which is a decent way to save a hell of a lot of money) all add up to a very worthwhile purchase for £10. That's even *before* you start to consider how utterly brilliant Stewart Lee's show is. A short 20 minute interview and a video stills gallery go on to round off one of the best DVDs I've bought all year.

Before now, Stewart has only had one DVD released to date - the equally excellent Stand-Up Comedian - but he's been unable to find enough interest for a further release through 2 | entertain. I can only assume that GFT will be using a relatively big name such as Stewart as a spring board for the company, and we can hope to see some really commercially neglected comedians being given the GFT treatment in the coming months.

My knowledge of properly obscure stand-up performers is horribly limited, but I guess that's the whole point – this is excellent opportunity for me to ‘bone up’ properly. Make your own jokes, because I can’t.

So, yes, I implore you to buy this DVD and support a truly worthwhile and exciting venture.