Stewart Lee began stand-up in 1988 at the age of 20, and won the Hackney Empire new act of the year award in 1990. In 2001 he co-wrote the libretto for Richard Thomas's Jerry Springer: The Opera, which went on to win four Olivier awards. His most recent live shows have been Carpet Remnant World (2011), Much A Stew About Nothing (2013), Room With A Stew (2015) and Content Provider (2017). In December 2011 he won Best Male TV Comic and Best Comedy Entertainment Performance at the British Comedy Awards and his BBC show Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle won a BAFTA in 2012. In 2018 he was described by The Times as the word's greatest living stand-up comedian.