Privatising BBC3 would be as pernicious as Isis destroying Iraq’s historic sites - March 2015 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - March 15th, 2015

When so-called Islamic State destroyed historic sites in Iraq, I was wary of making judgments of other cultures, and gave these exuberant young men the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps shattering the statues was mere high spirits, like when Greeks trample wedding crockery? Or perhaps it was the fault of MI5? Of course, we also…

Who wants an effigy of a naked Vladimir Putin in their back yard? - March 2015 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - March 1st, 2015

You may call me a nimby. There. I hope you enjoyed doing so and feel better now. But how would you feel if you woke up one day to find a 20ft-tall golden effigy of a naked Vladimir Putin in your garden? I never used to have a back yard. But now, at 46, I…

‘Secondary ticketing’ might be legal, but that doesn’t make it morally right - February 2015 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - February 8th, 2015

Culture secretary Sajid Javid has said that ticket touts are “classic entrepreneurs” and their detractors are the “chattering middle classes and champagne socialists, who have no interest in helping the common working man earn a decent living by acting as a middleman”. Fill my flute with Dom Perignon, comrade, as we raise the red flag…

With Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown and Citizen Khan’s help, I’m creating a comedy databank for Islamic Birmingham - January 2015 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - January 12th, 2015

On Sunday, on Fox News, an American terrorism expert named Steven Emerson revealed that the entire English city of Birmingham was a no-go area to non-Muslims. I was worried, as I have a standup gig there as part of my Room With A Stew tour on 2 May, and last time I played my old…

I’ve had it with comedy awards – and so has my bounty hunter alter ego - December 2014 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - December 21st, 2014

I am a standup comedian. Last Tuesday, I attended the British comedy awards, my first since 1991. Today an edited Channel 4 highlights package from a Wembley warehouse, back in ’91, in their second year, the awards were a primetime ITV Saturday-night live spectacular in a big South Bank studio. I wrote for Radio 4’s…

Want to know what’s really killing Christmas? Just ask Ben Stiller… - December 2014 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - December 14th, 2014

Every year since I can remember, it seems something has been killing Christmas: commercialism; multiculturalism; secularism; or that political correctness of the “gone mad” variety that they have now. This is not a new idea. An ancient cave daub, dating from 10,000 BC, on the walls of the Grotte de Niaux in southern France, appears…