name	Stewart Lee
birth date	April 05, 1968
birth place	Wellington, Shropshire, England
nationality	British
known for	''Fist of Fun'' (1993–1995)''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'' (1998–1999)''Jerry Springer: The Opera'' (2001–2005)''90's Comedian'' (2005–2006)''41st Best Stand Up Ever!'' (2007–2008)''Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'' (2009–)
occupation	Stand-up comedian, writer
spouse	Bridget Christie (2006-present)
children	1 Son 1 daughter
website	}}

Stewart Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director. He became known as one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring. Disillusioned, Lee gave up comedy in the early 2000s, believing that he had reached the extent of his audience, but saw his critical stock rise after he co-wrote and co-directed the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show ''Jerry Springer - The Opera''. He has been active on the UK circuit since the early 1990s and has carved a niche audience which he has designed as anti populist, the anti "after the pub" audience, and he remains a significant voice despite his refusal to appear on the panel shows that have seen many of his contemporaries eclipse him. Although his audience figures are low, usually he tours to 400-600 capacity venues and he stands outside the comedy mainstream, he is well regarded by critics and a regular pundit on BBC political programming.

In December 2011, Lee won the award for best male television comic for his series Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle which also won best comedy entertainment programme at the 2011 British Comedy Awards. 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". His stand-up features frequent use of "repetition, call-backs, nonchalant delivery and deconstruction", a device he jokingly ascribes to his tedious, exacting middle-class persona.

Background

Lee was born in Wellington, Shropshire. He was adopted as a child and grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands. He attended private school Solihull School, on a scholarship. He is married to fellow comic Bridget Christie, with whom he has two children. He is a supporter of the British Humanist Association and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.

Career

Early career: ''Lee and Herring'' and ''Fist of Fun''

While studying English at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford in the 1980s, he wrote and performed comedy in a revue group called "The Seven Raymonds" with Richard Herring, Emma Kennedy, Michael Cosgrave, Richard Canning 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 Richard 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-'90s (though a 2008 CD release would see it reinstated).

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). This was followed by three series entitled, simply, ''Lee and Herring''. These shows mixed sketches with live links and music, in a format that Radio 1 seemed to favour at the time. (Other examples include shows by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, and Simon Munnery in his guise as "Alan Parker: Urban Warrior".) ''Fist of Fun'' moved to television for two BBC Two series, and was followed in 1998 by ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', which featured material in a similar vein, but was notable for being broadcast live in a Sunday morning slot. A change in BBC management after the second series of the latter effectively brought his partnership with Herring to an end but the two comedians retain similarities in the political and social acuity of their humour.

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 whilst 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 of all their live work.

Career 2000–04: Quitting stand-up

In 2001, Lee published his first novel, ''The Perfect Fool''. It was republished in 2008. 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 & 10" Vinyl.

During late 2000 and early 2001, Lee "gradually, incrementally and without any fanfare – or even much thought – gave up being a stand-up comedian", and 2001 became the first year since 1987 that he did not perform at the Edinburgh Fringe. Whilst 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 Zarathrustra'' and ''Head Farm'', but neither was developed into a series. The former, however, would feature 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 Lori Lixenberg, in their guise as "Kombat Opera".

At the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Lee directed Johnny Vegas' first DVD, ''Who's Ready For Ice Cream?'', a move away from the traditional "stand-up comic releases a DVD" format, involving a plot in which Vegas loses his comedy "mojo" and has to track it down via a journey of personal discovery. The DVD also features footage of Vegas' actual standup set as additional extras.

In 2004, Lee returned to stand-up comedy with the show ''Standup Comedian'', which earned him a "Tap Water Award" in Edinburgh and was released on DVD in October 2005. This features extra footage of performances from his earlier career on Five's "Comedy Network". This show was toured extensively throughout the UK, Australia and US. Reviewing the comedy of the decade, Dominic Maxwell in ''The Times'' wrote of Lee's 2004 return to stand-up that it was "one of the boldest, smartest, most technically assured hours of stand-up I've ever seen".

2005: ''Jerry Springer The Opera'' and ''90s Comedian''

In January 2005, ''Jerry Springer - The Opera'', a satirical musical/opera 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 Christ. 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. A private court case brought by Christian Voice against Lee and others involved with the production for blasphemy was rejected by a Magistrates' Court.

In 2005, Lee tackled the subject of the religious hatred he experienced after the broadcast of ''Jerry Springer – The Opera'' in his stand-up show, ''90s Comedian''. This show has earned him some of the best reviews of his career, largely due to the un-checked vitriol he unleashes in the latter half of the set, "taking no prisoners" in his attempt to display what he claimed was the lunacy of sacred cows. A recording was made in Cardiff in March 2006. This was filmed by a group of amateur enthusiasts who were disappointed that there was no distribution deal in place because of the commercial failure of the ''Standup Comedian'' DVD and the controversial nature of the new show's material. These "enthusiastic amateurs" became GoFasterStripe and, having set themselves up in order to film the show, have gone on to film the works of many other "non-mainstream" comedians, including sets from Tony Law (Lee's support act on the 2009 ''If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One'' tour), Simon Munnery (whose BBC television comedy series -''Attention Scum'' - was directed by Lee) and several by Lee's former partner Richard Herring.

2006: ''What Would Judas Do?''

Many assumed Lee would bring a new hour of stand up to Edinburgh in 2006 to consolidate his "comeback" success, but he did not. Implying that it might have happened under different circumstances, he commented at the time on his website that, "I assumed I was going to be working out 6 half hours of stand-up for a TV project but it fell through". However, he did visit the festival as director of a production of the Eric Bogosian play ''Talk Radio'' with a cast which included Phil Nichol, Mike McShane, Will Adamsdale, Stephen K Amos and Tony Law.

In 2006, in addition to his directorial contribution to Talk Radio, he gigged regularly and appeared on television and radio, in – amongst others – Armando Iannucci's ''Time Trumpet'', as a version of himself thirty years in the future looking back and commentating on the present day. The show ran on BBC2 between August & 6 September 2006. Also in August, Lee presented a programme in the Five series ''Don't Get Me Started''. The documentary discussed the issues of blasphemy, free speech, religious censorship and the rise in protests from religious groups over perceived attacks on their faith. This was an area of interest to Lee, following the ''Jerry Springer -The Opera'' controversy (see above). The programme was renamed from ''New Puritans'' to ''Stewart Lee Says What's So Bad About Blasphemy?'' without Lee's prior knowledge.

He separated from his long standing management company, Avalon, after a promised BBC series fell through (and because of a loss of trust resulting in part from incidents such as the retitling of the blasphemy documentary), and appeared on the BBC Radio 4 quiz ''Quote Unquote'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' and on ''Have I Got News for You'', purportedly to pay for his wedding.

2007: ''Stewart Lee – 41st Best Stand Up Ever!''

January saw Lee open his show ''What Would Judas Do'' in a double bill with Mark Ravenhill's ''Product: World Remix'' at London's Bush Theatre. He announced at the time that he was also writing – with Tony Law - a sitcom pilot about the god Thor, for BBC Two, and script-editing another pilot, a sitcom about the Brontë sisters. In February, he organised a tribute to cult comedian Ted Chippington entitled "Tedstock" at London's Bloomsbury Theatre. This was designed, in part, to raise money to fund a CD release of Chippington's work – which was available to buy on the night - entitled "Walking Down The Road". The show included a one-off performance from Lee and Herring, along with fellow Ted fans Simon Munnery, The Nightingales, Phill Jupitus, Josie Long and Stephen Carlin.

Lee's first new stand up show since "90s Comedian" was developed over the first half of 2007, originally to be named ''March Of The Mallards'' (a title parodying that of the film ''March of the Penguins''), it would be renamed before its full debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival of that year, and subsequent Autumn tour. This was because, in March 2007, Lee was named 41st best stand-up of all time in a Channel 4 survey listing the "100 best standups". In this poll, he beat Dave Allen, George Carlin, Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Tommy Cooper. Channel 4 did not reveal exactly how the voting was conducted, but 150,000 members of the public were polled, as were an undisclosed number of experts.

2008

At the Edinburgh Festival in 2008 Lee performed potential material for his recently announced BBC2 series, ''Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'', in a work in progress show at The Stand, billed as ''Scrambled Egg''. Over the three weeks of the festival, Lee worked on a large quantity of new material, and updated old favourites for possible inclusion in the show, which began filming the following November. A follow up to Johnson & Boswell also aired, again featuring Munnery & Jupp. ''Elizabeth & Raleigh, Late But Live'' was featured at the festival before touring the country in the autumn. In November, Lee began filming for his 2009 TV show, and on the 16th November, reunited with Herring another one off performance of their old double act at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith during one of the gigs Richard Herring curated there. They were joined by Paul Putner in character as the Curious Orange. With initial filming out of the way, ''Scrambled Egg'' was reprised at London's Hen & Chickens Theatre in December to fully polish the stand up sections of the forthcoming TV project ahead of filming in January 2009.

2009: ''Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'' and ''If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One''

''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. The first episode received positive reviews from The Independent and The ''Daily Mirror''. The show received a negative review in ''Time Out'', written by Lee himself, 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". ''The Guardian'' named ''Comedy Vehicle'' as one of its top ten television highlights of 2009, commenting that it "was 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". One of the show's few negative reviews came in the ''Sunday Mercury'', which stated: "His whole tone is one of complete, smug condescension". Lee subsequently used this line to advertise his next stand-up tour. 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.

The first episode was watched by approximately 1 million viewers, though the figure rose by 25% when BBC iPlayer viewings were factored in and, uncharacteristically, viewing figures rose over the series. 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.

Lee also had a show at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, named ''Stewart Lee: If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One'' in which he performed his own version of the song "Galway Girl". In the Galway stage of this show Sharon Shannon performed the song with Lee. In December 2009 Lee was beaten to the title of Best Live Stand-Up by the comedian Michael McIntyre at the British Comedy Awards ceremony.

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 and that his head had rolled off in front of his wife". and, having been doorstepped by a ''Mail'' journalist, Lee replied "It's a joke, just like on Top Gear when they do their jokes". Lee subsequently explained the joke:

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". in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. On the 9th of February, Armando Iannucci, the executive producer of the first series of ''Comedy Vehicle'', announced that there would be a second series of the show. On 10 April an updated version of ''The 100 Greatest Stand-Ups'' was broadcast on Channel 4, in which Lee was declared the 12th best stand-up comedian. The May Day weekend saw Lee curating a programme of free jazz at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, at the invitation of festival director Tony Dudley-Evans.

Lee's second book, ''How I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and Deaths of a Stand-Up Comedian'', was published by Faber and Faber on 5 August 2010. The book features annotated transcripts of Lee's ''Stand-Up Comedian'', '''90s Comedian'' and ''41st Best Stand-Up Ever'' shows and has received positive reviews. It is dedicated to Ted Chippington.

Lee's 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show is entitled ''Vegetable Stew''. Prior to the start of the festival, Lee wrote an e-mail to the publicist of the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards, copying in other comedians, in response to the announcement of a poll to find the public's favourite act from 30 years of the award, which was previously known as the Perrier Award. Lee wrote:

Think about the logic of it for a moment. Who among those you are asking to vote has even heard of Frank Chickens, who for all anyone under 30 knows may be the best act on the list? It is not possible for the outcome of this vote to have any credibility.

As result of his e-mail going viral with the encouragement of Richard Herring and Robin Ince, Frank Chickens took the lead in the poll. During the polling, Lee wrote that: "In my e-mail I chose at random Frank Chickens, the Japanese female performance art duo, as an example of possibly worthy winners who would not get a look-in under this illogical and unfair voting system, and the Twitter world has adopted them as a cause". He stated that it was never his intention to influence the vote, "but they are now leading the field, and it appears we should embrace them. If Frank Chickens become Comedy Gods then Foster's will have been helped to actually sponsor some actual art, and fans of Foster's all over the whole world will be made aware of that wonderful, indefinable, mischievous, playful thing we call the Spirit Of The Fringe!". Frank Chickens went on to win the public vote. As a result of the Frank Chickens incident, Lee was awarded the Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt award for best publicity stunt at the Fringe. The award's organisers stated: "The fact that Stewart did not intend to unleash publicity does not negate his success".

2012: ''Carpet Remnant World''

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stewart-Lee-Carpet-Remnant-World/dp/B007RD9OLE/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1335260371&sr=1-1

Music journalism

Lee has written music reviews for a number of publications including, since 1995, the ''Sunday Times''. Through the early 2000s he was a regular presenter on Resonance FM 104.4.

He is noted for his esoteric musical taste. Asked in 2003 what his current music favourites were, he stated "Most of my favourites are still going like The Fall, Giant Sand and Calexico. I listen to a lot of jazz, 60s and folk music but I really like Ms. Dynamite, and The Streets". He once said that the only band he liked that anyone else has heard of was R.E.M.. His debut novel, ''The Perfect Fool'', includes an 'audio bibliography' – a list of recommended listening. This mentions that it was his love of the band Giant Sand that first attracted him to visit the American South West.

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'' Faber & Faber 2010 ISBN 0-571-25480-2

''The 'If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One' EP'' Faber & Faber 2012 ISBN 978-0-571-27984-5

''TV Comedian'' (to be published Summer 2012)

DVDs

''Stand Up Comedian'' [2005] (2|entertain)

''90s Comedian'' [2006] (Go Faster Stripe)

''41st Best Stand Up Ever'' [2008] (Real Talent)

''Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'' [2009] (2|entertain)

''If You Prefer A Milder Comedian Please Ask For One'' [2010] [Comedy Central]

CDs

''90s Comedian'' [2007] (Go Faster Stripe, digital-only release)

''Pea Green Boat'' [2007] (Go Faster Stripe, also 10" vinyl)

''41st Best Stand Up Ever'' [2008] (Real Talent)

''What Would Judas Do?'' [2009] (Go Faster Stripe, 3-CD box set)

''The Jazz Cellar Tape'' [2011] (Go Faster Stripe, CD)

References

External links

Official website

Stewart Lee biography at Debi Allen Associates

Unofficial Lee and Herring website

Category:1968 births Category:Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Category:British atheists Category:British humanists Category:British radio writers Category:English comedians Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English film directors Category:GMTV presenters and reporters Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:People educated at Solihull School Category:People from Wellington, Shropshire