Stewart Lee

Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director. In the mid-1990s he was one half of the radio duo Lee and Herring, alongside Richard Herring. His stand-up is characterised by repetition, callbacks, deadpan delivery and a pronounced use of deconstruction, which he often self-consciously refers to on stage.[4]

For the English cricketer, see Stewart Lee (cricketer).

Stewart Lee
Lee in 2020
BornStewart Graham Lee
(1968-04-05) 5 April 1968
Wellington, Shropshire, England
OccupationStand-up comedian, columnist, author
ResidenceStoke Newington, London, England
Alma materSt Edmund Hall, Oxford
SpouseBridget Christie (2006–present)[1][2][3]
Children2
Website
www.stewartlee.co.uk

After giving up stand-up in the 2000s, Lee built a large audience as an anti-populist comedian in the 2010s. In December 2011 he won British Comedy Awards for best male television comic and best comedy entertainment programme for his series Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle.[5] A 2009 article in The Times referred to him as "the comedian's comedian, and for good reason" and named him "face of the decade".[6] In June 2012 Lee was placed at number 9 in the Top 100 Most Influential People in UK Comedy.[7]

He co-wrote and co-directed the West End hit musical Jerry Springer: The Opera, a critical success that sparked a backlash from Christian groups who staged a series of protests outside its early stagings. Lee has written music reviews for publications including The Sunday Times.[8]

Early life

Lee was born in Wellington, Shropshire.[9] He was adopted as a child and grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands[10] – his adoptive parents separated when he was four, and he was raised by his mother.[2] He attended Solihull School, a local independent school, on a part scholarship,[11] and received what he calls a "waifs and strays bursary" due to his status as an adoptee.[2] He participated in his school's mountain-walking club, which went on regular excursions to Snowdonia, Wales. The original members of the grindcore band Napalm Death also took part.[12] As a teenager he suffered from ulcerative colitis,[13] which he has said caused significant weight loss and made him look "cadaverously thin".[12] Lee has described how, at the age of 16, he was "doing a lot of reading, going to gigs, buying records, and listening to the John Peel show".[12] He later read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and graduated with a 2:1.[14]

Career

1989–1993: Stand-up and radio

While studying at Oxford in the 1980s, he wrote and performed comedy in a revue group called "The Seven Raymonds" with Richard Herring, Emma Kennedy and Tim Richardson, but did not perform in the well-known Oxford Revue, though he did write for and direct the 1989 Revue. Having moved to London and begun performing stand-up comedy after university, he rose to greater prominence in 1990, winning the prestigious Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition.

With Herring, Lee wrote material for BBC Radio 4's On the Hour (1991), which was anchored by Chris Morris and was notable for the first appearance of Steve Coogan's celebrated character, Alan Partridge, for which Lee and Herring wrote much early material. After a disagreement with the rest of the cast, Lee and Herring did not remain with the group when On The Hour moved to television as The Day Today, and their material was excised from an official release of the radio show in the mid-1990s, although it was included in a CD released in 2008.

In 1992 and 1993, he and Herring wrote and performed Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World for BBC Radio 4, before moving to BBC Radio 1, for one series of Fist of Fun (1993), followed by three series of Lee and Herring. Throughout the late nineties he continued performing solo stand-up (something that has always been a mainstay of his career – even whilst in the double act with Herring) and has collaborated with, amongst others, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh. Indeed, though Barratt and Fielding had worked together in the past, the first seeds of the Boosh were sown while working as part of Lee's Edinburgh show King Dong vs Moby Dick in which Barratt and Fielding played a giant penis and a whale, respectively. Lee returned the favour by going on to direct their 1999 Edinburgh show, Arctic Boosh, which remains the template for their live work.

2000–2004: Quitting stand-up

In 2001, Lee published his first novel, The Perfect Fool.[15] In the same year he performed Pea Green Boat, a stand-up show which revolved around the deconstruction of the Edward Lear poem "The Owl and the Pussycat" and a tale of his own broken toilet. This would later be condensed to focus mainly on the poem itself, and a 15-minute version aired on Radio 4. In 2007, Go Faster Stripe released a 25-minute edit on CD and 10" Vinyl.

During late 2000 and early 2001, Lee gradually gave up being a stand-up comedian.[16] and 2001 became the first year since 1987 that he did not perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[17] While Lee found himself gradually performing less and less standup and moving away from the stage, he continued his directorial duties on television. Two pilots were made for Channel 4, Cluub Zarathustra and Head Farm, but neither was developed into a series. The former featured all the ingredients that would later appear in Attention Scum, a BBC2 series fronted by Simon Munnery's "League Against Tedium" character, which also featured the likes of Kevin Eldon, Johnny Vegas and Roger Mann, as well as Richard Thomas and opera singer Lore Lixenberg.

At the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Lee directed Johnny Vegas' first DVD, Who's Ready For Ice Cream?. In 2004, he returned to stand-up comedy[18] with the show Standup Comedian.[6]

Lee is a regular music critic for The Guardian. In 2003 he said that his favourite bands include The Fall, Giant Sand and Calexico, and that he listens to "a lot of jazz, 60s and folk music but I really like Ms. Dynamite, and The Streets".[8]

2005: Jerry Springer: The Opera

In January 2005, Jerry Springer: The Opera, a satirical musical/opera written by Lee and Richard Thomas and based upon The Jerry Springer Show, was broadcast on BBC Two, following a highly successful West End run for several years, and as a prelude to the show's UK Tour. Christian Voice led a number of protest groups who claimed that the show was blasphemous and highly offensive. In particular, they were angered by the portrayal of Jesus. Disputes arose, with supporters claiming that most of the protesters had neither seen the show nor knew of its actual content. Others supported the right to freedom of speech. Several Christian groups protested at some of the venues used during the UK Tour. The show was broadcast with a record number of complaints prior to its transmission. In total, the BBC received 55,000 complaints.[19] A private court case brought by Christian Voice against Lee and others involved with the production for blasphemy was rejected by a Magistrates' Court.

Lee in 2006

In 2006 he appeared as a contestant on the comedy panel show Never Mind The Buzzcocks, where Simon Amstell made frequent mock-offended reference to the controversy over Jerry Springer: The Opera. This was followed by appearances on Have I Got News For You and 8 Out Of 10 Cats, before he decided to stop doing panel shows. In 2011 interviews Lee stated 'I can't do panel shows' and that he "doesn’t want to jeopardise [his lucrative standup career] by appearing in adverts or panel shows or doing things that will earn him quick money or fame while alienating a long-term audience".[20][21]

2009: Comedy Vehicle

Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, a new six-part comedy series featuring standup and sketches, began a six-episode run on 16 March 2009. The executive producer was Armando Iannucci and the script editor was Chris Morris.[22] The first episode received positive reviews from The Independent.[23] and the Daily Mirror.[24] Lee himself wrote a negative review of the show in Time Out in which he described himself as "fat" and his performance as "positively Neanderthal, suggesting a jungle-dwelling pygmy, struggling to coax notes out of a clarinet that has fallen from a passing aircraft".[25] The Guardian described it as "the kind of TV that makes you feel like you're not the only one wondering how we came to be surrounded by so much unquestioned mediocrity".[26] One of the show's few negative reviews came in the Sunday Mercury, which stated: "His whole tone is one of complete, smug condescension".[27] Lee used the line to advertise his next stand-up tour.[28] Lee frequently uses negative reviews on his posters in order to put off potential audience members who are unlikely to be fans of his comedy style.[29]

The first episode was watched by approximately one million viewers.[30] The series was the BBC's second most downloaded broadcast during its run. In May 2010, the series was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for best comedy programme.[31] The series won a BAFTA TV Award for best comedy programme in 2012.[32] After four seasons on BBC2 the show was cancelled.[33]

Alternative Comedy Experience

Although Lee had been supported by less established acts on his comedy tours before (including Josie Long and Tony Law), 2011 marked a shift in his career towards doing a lot to promote other creative comedy talent. He curated At Last! The 1981 Show, featuring veteran alternative comedians Alexei Sayle and Norman Lovett at the Royal Festival Hall in May 2011 and by 2013 he was fronting a comedy showcase on Comedy Central called The Alternative Comedy Experience which featured 38 comedians who identified with alternative comedy, including Robin Ince, Sam Simmons and Eleanor Tiernan.[34] The show ran for 25 episodes 2013–14, but in 2015 Lee confirmed that Comedy Central were not commissioning a third series.[35]

Style and material
Lee in 2008

Lee's comedy covers a wide range of forms and subject material. It is often topical, observational, self-deprecating or absurd. Notable routines have focused on topics like religion, political correctness and artistic integrity. He also employs metahumour,[36] openly describing the structure and intent of the set while onstage, and abolishing the illusion of his routines as spontaneous acts.

Lee's delivery utilises various onstage personae, frequently alternating between that of an outspoken liberal hero and that of a depressed failure and champagne socialist. In an ironic manner, he often criticises the audience for not being intelligent enough to understand his jokes, saying they would prefer more simplistic material, or enjoy the work of more mainstream "arena" comedians such as Michael McIntyre or Lee Mack;[2] inversely, he will also scold them as a bias-seeking "liberal intelligentsia".[37] His routines often culminate in feigned depressive episodes and nervous breakdowns.

Lee caused controversy on his If You Prefer a Milder Comedian tour with a routine about Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. Referring to Hammond's accident while filming in 2006, in which he was almost killed, Lee joked, "I wish he had been decapitated". When he was doorstepped by a Daily Mail journalist, Lee quoted the routine by replying "It's a joke, just like on Top Gear when they do their jokes".[38] He said: "People who read things like that in the Mail on Sunday and who think Clarkson is funny aren’t going to come and see me, so it doesn’t matter."[38] Explaining the joke, Lee said:

The idea of what's acceptable and what's shocking, that's where I investigate. I mean, you can't be on Top Gear, where your only argument is that it's all just a joke and anyone who takes offence is an example of political correctness gone mad, and then not accept the counterbalance to that. Put simply, if Clarkson can say the prime minister is a one-eyed Scottish idiot, then I can say that I hope his children go blind.

— Stewart Lee[39]

In an Observer interview, Sean O'Hagan says of the Hammond joke that Lee "operates out in that dangerous hinterland between moral provocation and outright offence, often adopting, as in this instance, the tactics of those he targets in order to highlight their hypocrisy".[39]

In his stand-up shows, Lee has made critical statements against other successful comedians including Ben Elton, Ricky Gervais, Russell Brand, James Corden, Joe Pasquale and Patrick Kielty.

After accepting an honorary fellowship from St Edmund Hall, Oxford,[40] Lee gave a lecture to aspiring writers in which he discussed the fact that performers such as Frankie Boyle, Michael McIntyre, Jack Whitehall and Andi Osho used writers who were not credited.[41] He compared the practice to athletes using performance-enhancing drugs.[42] Along with plagiarism and extremism, Lee has brought moral issues surrounding stand-up to the public's attention.[43]

His influences include Ted Chippington, Jerry Sadowitz, Simon Munnery, Kevin McAleer and Johnny Vegas.[44][45]

Personal life

Lee lives in Stoke Newington, London.[46] He is married to fellow comic Bridget Christie, with whom he has two children.[39][47] He is a patron of Humanists UK,[48] an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society[49][50] and a member of Arts Emergency.[51]

Selected works

Books
  • Fist of Fun (with Richard Herring; non-fiction) BBC Books, 1995. ISBN 0-563-37185-4; ISBN 978-0-563-37185-4
  • The Perfect Fool (novel) Fourth Estate, 2001. ISBN 1-84115-365-6; ISBN 978-1-84115-365-0
  • Sit-Down Comedy (contributor to anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ISBN 0-09-188924-3; ISBN 978-0-09-188924-1
  • More Trees to Climb by Ben Moor (foreword)
  • Death To Trad Rock by John Robb (foreword) Cherry Red
  • The Wire Primers: A Guide to Modern Music (chapter on The Fall)
  • How I Escaped My Certain Fate – The Life and Deaths of a Stand-Up Comedian. London: Faber and Faber. 2010. ISBN 9780571273126. OCLC 712913144.
  • The 'If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask For One' EP. London: Faber and Faber. 2012. ISBN 9780571279845. OCLC 755071819.
  • Content Provider: Selected Short Prose Pieces, 2011-2016. London: Faber and Faber. 2016. ISBN 9780571329021. OCLC 955202799.
  • March of the Lemmings: Brexit in Print and Performance 2016–2019. London: Faber and Faber. 2019. ISBN 9780571357024. OCLC 1130766718.
  • TV Comedian. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 9780571276677. OCLC 802294371. (delayed)[52]

Stand-up DVD releases
Title Released Publisher
Stand Up Comedian 2005 2 entertain
90s Comedian 2006 Go Faster Stripe
41st Best Stand Up Ever 2008 Real Talent
If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One 2010 Comedy Central
Carpet Remnant World 2012 Comedy Central
Stewart Lee: Content Provider 2018 BBC

Television DVD releases
Title Released Publisher
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – Series One 2009 2 entertain
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – Series Two 2011 2 entertain
Fist of Fun – Series One 2011 Go Faster Stripe
Fist of Fun – Series Two 2012 Go Faster Stripe
The Alternative Comedy Experience – Season One 2013 Comedy Central
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – Series Three 2014 2 entertain
The Alternative Comedy Experience – Season Two 2014 Comedy Central
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – Series Four 2016 2 entertain

Audio releases
  • 90s Comedian [2007] (Go Faster Stripe, download)
  • Pea Green Boat [2007] (Go Faster Stripe, CD and 10" vinyl)
  • 41st Best Stand Up Ever [2008] (Real Talent, CD)
  • What Would Judas Do? [2009] (Go Faster Stripe, CD)
  • The Jazz Cellar Tape [2011] (Go Faster Stripe, CD)
  • Evans The Death featuring Stewart Lee [2012] – Crying Song (B-side to Catch Your Cold)[53]
  • John Cage – Indeterminacy – Steve Beresford, Tania Chen, and Stewart Lee [2012] (Knitted Records, CD)

Stand-up tours
  • Stewart Lee [1994]
  • King Dong vs Moby Dick [1997]
  • American Comedy Sucks, And Here's Why (One Off Lecture at Edinburgh Fringe) [1998]
  • Stewart Lee's Standup Show [1998]
  • Stewart Lee's Badly Mapped World [2000]
  • Pea Green Boat [2002] – [2003]
  • Stand Up Comedian [2004]
  • 90's Comedian [2005]
  • What Would Judas Do? [2007]
  • 41st Best Stand Up Ever [2007] (Work in progress title, March of the Mallards)
  • Scrambled Egg [2008] (Work in Progress – notes toward Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle TV Series 1)
  • If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One [2009]
  • Vegetable Stew [2010] (Work in Progress – notes toward Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle TV Series 2)
  • Flickwerk 2011 [2011] (Work in Progress – notes toward Carpet Remnant World)
  • Carpet Remnant World [2011] – [2012]
  • Much A Stew About Nothing [2013-14] (Work in Progress – notes toward Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle TV Series 3)
  • A Room with a Stew [2015-16] (Work in Progress – notes toward Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle TV Series 4)
  • Content Provider [2016-18]
  • Snowflake/Tornado [2019-20]
gollark: Those are some code-ish codes.
gollark: Wow!
gollark: There must be aeon wyverns about.
gollark: bænænæ
gollark: Mædness.

See also

References
  1. "Comedy profile: Bridget Christie", The Guardian, 26 March 2010. Accessed 15 April 2013
  2. Hanning, James (9 March 2014). "Stewart Lee: Beware – this man may be only joking". The Independent on Sunday.
  3. Logan, Brian (19 August 2014). "Take my husband: Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie and the rise of comedy couples". The Guardian.
  4. McAlpine, Emma (10 December 2009). "Stewart Lee live review: If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One". Spoonfed. Archived from the original on 1 December 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  5. "Stewart Lee and Victoria Wood among 2011 comedy winners". BBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  6. Maxwell, Dominic (22 December 2009). "The decade in comedy". The Times. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  7. Clark, Tim (22 June 2012). "The Top 100 most influential people in comedy: 20 – 1". Such Small Portions. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  8. Pearce, Rebeckah (19 January 2003). "I don't feel a pressure to be funny offstage or onstage". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  9. Richardson, Andy (21 October 2009). "Getting a laugh out of disappointments" (PDF). Shropshire Star. MNA Media. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  10. Hall, Julian (11 August 2007). "The Saturday Profile: Stewart Lee, King of the Fringe". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  11. Graham, Jane (1 November 2019). "Stewart Lee's advice for his 16 year old self: don't trust Morrissey". The Big Issue. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  12. Billen, Andrew (28 July 2010). "How I Escaped My Certain Fate". The Times.
  13. Lee, Stewart (2011). How I Escaped My Certain Fate. London: Faber & Faber. p. 11. ISBN 0571254810.
  14. "Book deal for Stewart Lee: Writing about his stand-up". Chortle. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  15. Lee, Stewart (2010). How I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and Deaths of a Stand-Up Comedian. London: Faber and Faber. p. 2. ISBN 0-571-25480-2.
  16. Lee 2010, p. 28.
  17. Armstrong, Stephen (15 March 2009). "Stewart Lee on his Comedy Vehicle". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  18. Akbar, Arifa; Morgan, Harry (2 August 2010). "Edinburgh: Cradle of shows that conquered the world". The Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  19. Saner, Emine (23 June 2011). "Stewart Lee: 'Things going badly is a big part of what I do'". The Guardian.
  20. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times.
  21. "Toilet Books". Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  22. Viner, Brian (17 March 2009). "Last Night's Television – Keep taking the mic". The Independent. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  23. Simon, Jane (17 March 2009). "Pick of the Day: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – BBC2, 10pm". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  24. "Stewart Lee returns in 'Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'". Time Out. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  25. Dean, Will; Meer, Malik; Vine, Richard (19 December 2009). "Pop culture 2009: The year in lists". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  26. Laws, Roz (29 March 2009). "Stewart Lee is a condescending snob". Sunday Mercury. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  27. Sommers, Jack (8 October 2009). "Stewart Lee: Protests cost me millionaire status". Get Hampshire. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  28. Kettle, James (26 August 2010). "Paste masters: the art of the Edinburgh fringe poster". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  29. Dowell, Ben (17 March 2009). "TV ratings: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle draws just 1 million". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  30. "John Hurt gets Bafta nod for Quentin Crisp role". BBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  31. Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – Comedy Programme Winner. BAFTA. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  32. "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle cancelled by the BBC". The Telegraph. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  33. "The Alternative Comedy Experience (TV Series 2013– ) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  34. Solutions, Powder Blue Internet Business. "Alternative Comedy Experience axed : News 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  35. "Opinion: What's The Meta With Stewart Lee?". Beyond The Joke.
  36. Lee, Stewart (3 January 2012). Stewart Lee! The 'If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask For One' EP. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571279852.
  37. Donaldson, Brian (25 February 2010). "If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask for One – Stewart Lee interview". The List. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  38. O'Hagan, Sean (6 December 2009). "Interview: Stewart Lee". The Observer. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  39. "Comedian Stewart Lee accepts Honorary Fellowship". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  40. "Stewart Lee accuses high-profile comedians Michael McIntrye, Jack". Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  41. Dessau, Bruce (19 July 2013). "Should standup comedians write all their own jokes?". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  42. MacInnes, Paul (11 September 2009). "Stewart Lee, Jack Whitehall and the trouble with copycat comedians". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  43. "Stewart Lee Interview". LeftLion.
  44. "Stewart Lee website, July 2005". Archived from the original on 7 July 2007.
  45. Chacko, Roy (27 June 2019). "'I was first in - I'll be last out'". Hackney Gazette. Stoke Newington, London. p. 20. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
  46. Saner, Emine (23 June 2011). "Stewart Lee: 'Things going badly is a big part of what I do'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  47. "Stewart Lee". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
  48. "Stewart Lee". National Secular Society. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  49. "Honorary Associates". www.secularism.org.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  50. "Media Diversity UK". E-activist.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  51. Musson, Alex (27 November 2015). "Stewart Lee interview in Mustard comedy mag". www.mustardweb.org. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  52. "Evans The Death : Catch Your Cold". Slumberland Records. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
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