Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, callbacks, deadpan delivery, deconstruction, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall.
Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring alongside Richard Herring. In 2001, 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. 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 written music reviews for publications including The Sunday Times.
Links To Peel[]
The Wikipedia article on Stewart Lee mentions that, during his teens, he was a member of his "school's mountain-walking club, which went on regular excursions to Snowdonia; the original members of the grindcore band Napalm Death also took part". Lee is also quoted as saying that at 16 he was "doing a lot of reading, going to gigs, buying records, and listening to the John Peel show". Later in the article he gives a list of artists he admired, including Peel favourites the Fall and Calexico. Lee went on to write the script for King Rocker, a documentary film first shown in 2021, about the singer Robert Lloyd and his bands, The Prefects and The Nightingales, which included archive film featuring Peel.
Although some of Lee's music tastes weren't shared by Peel, notably the comedian's enthusiasm for free jazz, Lee retained an appreciation of the DJ's influence on him. In the June 2022 issue of the Glasgow and Edinburgh events magazine The List he took part in a "Q&A" feature, and was asked "Whose speaking voice soothes your ears?" He replied:
- "John Peel: the sound of going to sleep in the 80s, brainwashed by post-punk, excited about all the wonderful things in the world I would one day be able to see. Or be."
See Also[]
- 16 October 1996: Lee and Herring appear with Peel when the DJ sits in for Mark Radcliffe
- Rooney