Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee (born 5 April 1968), full name Stewart Graham Lee, is an English comedian whose stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. He began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard Herring. In 2009 The Times referred to him as "the comedian's comedian, and for good reason" and named him "face of the decade", and in 2018 named him the best current English-language comedian.

Born in Wellington, Shropshire, Lee was adopted as a child and grew up in Solihull, West Midlands. He attended Solihull School on a part scholarship before reading English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, graduating with a 2:1. While a student at Oxford he wrote and performed comedy with Richard Herring, and after moving to London he won the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 1990. With Herring he wrote material for BBC Radio 4's On the Hour (1991) and the early Alan Partridge character, and the pair went on to make Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy for the BBC.

In 2001 Lee co-wrote and co-directed the West End hit musical Jerry Springer: The Opera, a critical success that sparked protests from Christian right groups, and the same year he published his first novel, The Perfect Fool, before briefly retiring from stand-up. In 2011 he won British Comedy Awards for Best Male Television Comic and Best Comedy Entertainment Programme for his series Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle. He has also written music reviews for publications including The Sunday Times.