The National Trust doesn’t even trust us to have our own thoughts - June 2011 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - June 5th, 2011

The National Trust has concealed recordings of eight celebrities inside benches. Undoubtedly, listening to Claudia Winkleman while contemplating Quarry Bank Mill might help to sensualise the horrors of Industrial Revolution working conditions. And we will one day wonder how we managed to enjoy the 520 acres of Felbrigg Hall without a bench upon which visitors…

The Best Of London - May 2011 Time Out - May 1st, 2011

I’ve been in London twenty-two years now. I came here to try and be a stand-up in the year 17 BM (Before Macintyre, 1989 Common Era). There was no-where else to do it. Asked what I loved about London then I’d have said music and comedy venues, and second hand book and record shops. But…

Stewart Lee’s insider’s take on William and Kate - April 2011 The Guardian - By Stewart Lee - April 27th, 2011

The selection of Kate Middleton, a lowly commoner drawn from the very dregs of society, as Prince William’s bride has been the subject of great speculation, much of it thinly veiled snobbery. But Britain is broken. Social mobility is at a historic low, state education and public healthcare are in crisis, and our own prime…

Slow Comedy - April 2011 The Financial Times - By Stewart Lee - April 10th, 2011

I am a stand-up comedian. Or at least I thought I was. A few years ago, I received an unsolicited e-mail asking me if I was interested in “submitting content”. I was confused. The sender explained that I was a “content provider”. Did I want to provide content? Eventually it transpired that the content-seeker wanted…

The Smiths – I Know Its Over - April 2011 Mojo Magazine - By Stewart Lee - April 1st, 2011

I Know It’s Over is The Queen Is Dead’s first pause for breath. As usual, Morrissey’s mordant wit is mistaken, historically, for unmitigated misery. “Mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head.” What an opening line! Remember all those classic blues and folk songs that billow forth from the point of view of…

Comics - December 2010 Clint Magazine - By Stewart Lee - December 1st, 2010

Sometime around 1973 or 74, when I was five or six years old, I was spinning the lower rungs of a rack of soft porn and True Detective magazines in a newsagents on the Stratford Road just outside Birmingham and an issue of Captain Marvel jumped out, the first real comic book I ever read.…