Sceptical comic reveals a supernatural experience

Stewart Lee has revealed that he once experienced a ‘time slip’.

The comedian said he was in the ruins of Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire when he was suddenly transported back to before it was dissolved by Henry VIII.

And the revelation – on Danny Robins’ Radio 4 podcast Uncanny – is all the more surprising as Lee was on the show as a sceptic.  Asked at the start of the show he was asked if he belived in ghosts, he said simply ‘no’, despite having a long interest in folklore.

However, later in the show, when discussing one listener’s paranormal experience of a previous era, Lee said he had a similar experience.

Fountains Abbey © Rick Harrison/Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

He said: ‘I had a time slip, but I didn't even know it was called that. I was in Fountains Abbey, which is a ruin, having been trashed by Henry VIII in order to create beautiful ruins that would then inspire romantic poets 300 years later. 

‘And I went into the abbey, the main part of the abbey and for a few seconds, out of nowhere, it knitted itself together around me. It was full of monks facing away from me towards the altar. 

‘The walls were all filled in the stained-glass windows were back, and interestingly, the walls had frescoes on them, which I think would have been the case at the time, but not necessarily something I would have known, I don't think.’

When Robins expressed surprise that Lee had such an experience despite dismissing the supernatural, the comic said there was probably a rational explanation.

He said: ‘I would have been on tour between gigs. I probably have been drunk the night before, or certainly in a state of sleeplessness due to adrenaline. I don't intend entirely trust my own responses to things..

'But it also looks a bit like the cover of that Black Sabbath album with all the ​monks on it, which might have been in there as well.

'I didn't mention it to the person I was with because. It just seems so mad. You know, you don't want people to worry.  about you.’

Robins then noted: 'That's a very interesting line to say. It felt real enough to you that you felt if you articulated it to somebody else that they would worry that this was your mind malfunctioning.’ 

• Lee is the guest on the first of three special Halloween episodes of Uncanny, which is available on BBC Sounds now, and will air on BBC Radio 4 at 11pm on Ocotber 29. 

Published: 24 Oct 2024