The little-known act which is currently leading the public vote for the Edinburgh Fringe “Comedy God” award has made a triumphant return to the city. Comedian Stewart Lee brought Frank Chickens onto the stage in front of a packed crowd at the Festival Theatre. The Edinburgh Comedy Awards, formerly the Perriers, are in their 30th…
Comedian Stewart Lee, 42, was one half of a successful 1990s double act with Richard Herring. He co-wrote Jerry Springer: The Opera before returning to stand-up in 2007 with a series of critically acclaimed shows. He has just written a new book. What’s your book about? It’s the transcripts of three stand-up shows I did…
Ever wonder how a comic constructs an act? How they layer and time riffs to generate laughs or howls of outrage? If so, you’re in luck. In How I Escaped My Certain Fate, Stewart Lee offers the ultimate insider’s guide to the process. Earlier this century Lee abandoned stand-up, disenchanted that comedy had lost its…
When I ask him about his status as an oft-cited inspiration for comedians, Stewart Lee is mystified. “I don’t understand it. My niece showed me in Russell Brand’s book where he cites me as an influence.” The cynicism towards critical plaudits is genuine. On his publicity, alongside quotes attesting to the genius of his stand-up…
“I’M sort of past the age at which people get discovered and yet I seem to have been given a second chance, so I’ve been very lucky,” says comedian, writer and director Stewart Lee. He’s performed stand-up since he was 20, contributed to various BBC radio comedy shows and directed the Mighty Boosh’s 1999 breakthrough…
In his new show, Stewart Lee compares himself to a raft of personalities who appear to have let themselves go: Ray Liotta, Morrissey, KD Lang and Terry Christian among them. In the flesh, 41-year-old Lee might be barely recognisable from the comedic waif who, alongside stand-up mucka Richard Herring, snarled and sneered at life’s pomposities…