Stewart Lee has been writing and performing comedy for stage, TV and radio since 1993 when the successful radio show Fist of Fun was first aired with his double act partner Richard Herring. In 1995 Fist of Fun became the popular TV series of the same name on BBC2 and Lee and Herring won over a whole host of fans with their unique mix of silliness, anarchy and intelligence. Stewart Lee has gigged often and written prolifically since that time and is widely considered as one of the best stand ups alive in the UK. He is in fact known as the comedian’s comedian in part because of his technique of deconstructing and drawing out his jokes as he tells them. Many people agree that no one uses pauses and timing quite as well as Stewart Lee.
In 2002 he co wrote “Jerry Springer The Opera” which transferred from the BAC to the National Theatre and finally to London’s West End. It was a success however which brought with it incredible challenges as Stewart Lee was bombarded by hate mail and criticism from religious extremists among others. Thankfully he has since bounced back and after numerous brilliant and critically acclaimed stand up shows he was back on our screens with Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle on BBC2, produced by the comedy TV genius Armando Iannucci, the man behind The Day Today, Brass Eye, and Alan Partridge, to name a few. As you’d expect Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle was an original and edgy TV series which combined surreal sketches with pure glorious stand up.
Stewart Lee is a comedian who refuses to sell out and continues to take artistic risks, so that while he has the audience laughing in the palm of his hand he can flip the mood in a second to poignancy and contemplation. In his 2007 Edinburgh show Stewart Lee 41st Best Stand up Ever, he chatted about fatherhood and ended the show with a cuddly toy balanced on his head, a trick which he told us made his toddler laugh. It is an image which has remained with me ever since, and I think sums up that brilliant combination of the surreal, the whimsical and the slightly theatrical in his own inimitable way.
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