Stewart Lee

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

Stewart Lee
StewartLee.jpg
Lee in 2008
Born Stewart Graham Lee
(1968-04-05) 5 April 1968 (age 50)
Wellington, Shropshire, England
Alma mater St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Occupation Stand-up comedian, columnist, author
Known for Fist of Fun (1993–1995)
This Morning with Richard Not Judy (1998–1999)
Jerry Springer: The Opera (2001–2005)
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (2009–2016)
Spouse(s) Bridget Christie (2006–present)[1][2][3]
Children 2
Website www.stewartlee.co.uk

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. 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.

After a return to the live circuit, and through BBC and Channel 4 specials and series, Lee has rebuilt an audience and a reputation as an anti-populist comedian. 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.[4]

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".[5] In June 2012 Lee was placed at number 9 in the Top 100 Most Influential People in UK Comedy.[6] His stand-up is characterised by repetition, frequent callbacks, generally nonchalant delivery and a pronounced use of deconstruction, which he often self-consciously refers to on stage.[7]

Lee has written music reviews for publications including The Sunday Times.[8] Through the early 2000s he was a regular presenter on Resonance FM.[9]

Background[edit]

Lee was born in Wellington, Shropshire.[10] He was adopted as a child and grew up in Solihull in the West Midlands.[11] He attended the private school Solihull School on a part scholarship.[12] As a teenager he suffered from ulcerative colitis.[13]

He is married to fellow comic Bridget Christie, with whom he has two children.[14][15] He is a patron of Humanists UK,[16] an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society[17] and a member of Arts Emergency.[18] His influences include Ted Chippington, Simon Munnery, Kevin McAleer and Johnny Vegas.[19][20]

Career[edit]

1989–1993: Stand-up and radio[edit]

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 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.

2000–04: Quitting stand-up[edit]

In 2001, Lee published his first novel, The Perfect Fool; it was republished in 2008.[21] 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",[22](p2) and 2001 became the first year since 1987 that he did not perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.[22](p28) 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, in their guise as "Kombat Opera".

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[23] with the show Standup Comedian, which earned him a Tap Water Award in Edinburgh and was released on DVD in October 2005.[5]

Lee is also known for writing music reviews and, when asked in 2003 what his favourites were, he said "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".[8] On stage, he has also referenced his love of free jazz, and used the music of avant-garde guitarist Derek Bailey as incidental music in his DVD release of the show "Stand-Up Comedian".

2005: Jerry Springer: The Opera[edit]

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.[24] A private court case brought by Christian Voice against Lee and others involved with the production for blasphemy was rejected by a Magistrates' Court.

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

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.[25] The first episode received positive reviews from The Independent[26] and The Daily Mirror.[27] 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".[28]

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".[29] One of the show's few negative reviews came in the Sunday Mercury, which stated: "His whole tone is one of complete, smug condescension".[30] Lee subsequently used this line to advertise his next stand-up tour.[31] 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.[32]

The first episode was watched by approximately one million viewers,[33] though the figure rose by 25% when BBC iPlayer viewings were factored in and, uncharacteristically, viewing figures rose over the series.[34] 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.[35] The series won a BAFTA TV Award for best comedy programme in 2012.[36] After four seasons on BBC2 the show was cancelled.[37]

Lee also had a show at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 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".[38] In December 2009 Lee was nominated for Best Live Stand-up at the British Comedy Awards.[39][40]

Stewart Lee toured a new two-hour show, Content Provider, from November 2016 to April 2018 over 214 dates. This was recorded in Southend, Essex by the BBC and was broadcast on BBC Two on 28 July 2018. The programme is intercut with "interrogator" interviews by Alan Moore.

Style and material[edit]

Lee's stand-up sets comprise topical and sometimes observational comedy, touching on religion, feminism and life in multicultural London. However, he also employs metahumour,[41] and sometimes describes the structure of the set using technical terminology such as "callback".

In an ironic manner he often criticises the audience for not being intelligent enough to understand the joke, preferring the more simplistic material, or enjoying the work of more mainstream "arena" comedians such as Michael McIntyre or Lee Mack.[42] Lee will often contrast his critical success with other comics' more commercial success.

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". The Daily Mail termed this an "extraordinary attack"[43] and, having been doorstepped by a Mail journalist, Lee quoted the routine by replying "It's a joke, just like on Top Gear when they do their jokes".[44] Lee subsequently explained the joke:

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[14]

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".[14]

After accepting an honorary fellowship from St Edmund Hall, Oxford,[45] Lee gave a lecture to aspiring writers in which he mocked the fact that performers such as Frankie Boyle, Michael McIntyre, Jack Whitehall and Andi Osho used writers who were not credited.[46] He compared the practice to athletes using performance-enhancing drugs.[47] Along with plagiarism and extremism Lee has brought moral issues surrounding stand-up to the public’s attention.[48]

Selected works[edit]

Books[edit]

Stand-up DVD releases[edit]

Title Released Notes
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

Television releases[edit]

Title Released Notes
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
Stewart Lee: Content Provider 2018 BBC

Audio releases[edit]

  • 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)[50]
  • John Cage – Indeterminacy – Steve Beresford, Tania Chen, and Stewart Lee [2012] (Knitted Records, CD)

Solo Edinburgh Fringe / touring / stand-up shows[edit]

  • 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]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ^ "Stewart Lee and Victoria Wood among 2011 comedy winners". BBC News. Retrieved 17 December 2010. 
  5. ^ a b Maxwell, Dominic (22 December 2009). "The decade in comedy". The Times. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  6. ^ Clark, Tim (22 June 2012). "The Top 100 most influential people in comedy: 20 – 1". Such Small Portions. Retrieved 24 June 2012. 
  7. ^ 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. 
  8. ^ a b 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. ^ Quinton, James (2006). "Interview: Stewart Lee". Open Wide Magazine. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
  10. ^ Richardson, Andy (21 October 2009). "Getting a laugh out of disappointments" (PDF). Shropshire Star. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  11. ^ Hall, Julian (11 August 2007). "The Saturday Profile: Stewart Lee, King of the Fringe". The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  12. ^ "How I Escaped My Certain Fate". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  13. ^ a b c O'Hagan, Sean (6 December 2009). "Interview: Stewart Lee". The Observer. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  14. ^ Saner, Emine (23 June 2011). "Stewart Lee: 'Things going badly is a big part of what I do'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2011. 
  15. ^ "Stewart Lee". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  16. ^ "Stewart Lee". National Secular Society. Retrieved 1 June 2011. 
  17. ^ "Media Diversity UK". E-activist.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25. 
  18. ^ "Stewart Lee Interview". 
  19. ^ Stewart Lee website, July 2005 Archived 7 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ^ "Book deal for Stewart Lee: Writing about his stand-up". Chortle. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
  21. ^ a b Lee, Stewart (2010). How I Escaped My Certain Fate: The Life and Deaths of a Stand-Up Comedian. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-25480-2. 
  22. ^ Armstrong, Stephen (15 March 2009). "Stewart Lee on his Comedy Vehicle". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
  23. ^ Akbar, Arifa; Morgan, Harry (2 August 2010). "Edinburgh: Cradle of shows that conquered the world". The Independent. Retrieved 2 August 2010. 
  24. ^ "Toilet Books". Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
  25. ^ Viner, Brian (17 March 2009). "Last Night's Television – Keep taking the mic". The Independent. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
  26. ^ Simon, Jane (17 March 2009). "Pick of the Day: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle – BBC2, 10pm". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
  27. ^ "Stewart Lee returns in 'Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'". Time Out. 17 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
  28. ^ Dean, Will; Meer, Malik; Vine, Richard (19 December 2009). "Pop culture 2009: The year in lists". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  29. ^ Laws, Roz (29 March 2009). "Stewart Lee is a condescending snob". Sunday Mercury. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  30. ^ 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. 
  31. ^ Kettle, James (26 August 2010). "Paste masters: the art of the Edinburgh fringe poster". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  32. ^ Dowell, Ben (17 March 2009). "TV ratings: Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle draws just 1 million". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2009. 
  33. ^ "Marsha Meets... Stewart Lee". Marsha Meets... 24 December 2009. Xfm. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010. 
  34. ^ "John Hurt gets Bafta nod for Quentin Crisp role". BBC News. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
  35. ^ Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle - Comedy Programme Winner. BAFTA. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2016. 
  36. ^ "Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle cancelled by the BBC". The Telegraph. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016. 
  37. ^ "Stewart Lee: If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One | Edinburgh Festival Guide". Edinburghfestival.list.co.uk. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2009. 
  38. ^ "British Comedy Awards 2009: Nominations". cheaptelevision. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 
  39. ^ "British Comedy Awards: 2009 Winners". britishcomedyawards. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 
  40. ^ "Opinion: What's The Meta With Stewart Lee?". Beyond The Joke. 
  41. ^ "Stewart Lee: Beware - this man may be only joking". The Independent. 
  42. ^ Tapper, James (30 August 2009). "What prompted comedian's tirade against old schoolmate Richard Hammond?". Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  43. ^ Donaldson, Brian (25 February 2010). "If You Prefer a Milder Comedian Please Ask for One – Stewart Lee interview". The List. Retrieved 5 May 2010. 
  44. ^ "Comedian Stewart Lee accepts Honorary Fellowship". St Edmund Hall. Retrieved 29 July 2018. 
  45. ^ "Stewart Lee accuses high-profile comedians Michael McIntrye, Jack". Retrieved 29 July 2018. 
  46. ^ Dessau, Bruce (19 July 2013). "Should standup comedians write all their own jokes?". the Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2018. 
  47. ^ <https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/sep/11/stewart-lee-jack-whitehall-comedians
  48. ^ Musson, Alex (2015-11-27). "Stewart Lee interview in Mustard comedy mag". www.mustardweb.org. Retrieved 2017-11-14. 
  49. ^ "Evans The Death : Catch Your Cold". Slumberland Records. Retrieved 2014-04-08. 

External links[edit]

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