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 was invited to co-write the libretto for Richard Thomas's Jerry Springer: The Opera, which went on to win four Olivier awards. His most recent stand-up shows have been Vegetable Stew (2010) and Carpet Remnant World (2011). In December 2011 he won Best Male TV Comic and Best Comedy Entertainment Performance at the British Comedy Awards.