Lee names his top 10 acts

The comic, who used his own No 41 ranking in a Channel 4 rundown as the basis of his current stand-up show, will be presenting a series of gigs at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre in the spring,

However, he admitted: ‘Some I wanted to include were either unavailable (Daniel Kitson) or unwilling to participate in what seemed to them to be a self-aggrandising and dishonest conceit (Jerry Sadowitz)… And yes, I know there are no Americans.’

Also, the first name in his personal chart is listed only as ‘mystery guest’.

Lee said: ‘I have arrived at my own definitive list of the best ten stand-ups of all time, based on my insider knowledge and a secret ballot of myself conducted by me. Over half of the acts finally selected weren't even in the stupid Channel 4 shortlist.

‘Some of the acts in the season are so brilliant their genius has prevented them from becoming household names. One is so famous he or she cannot even be named, like some kind of Old Testament deity, or government assassin.’

Tickets for the shows at the Bloomsbury Theatre go on sale today, priced £17.50. This is the top ten:

April 25: Mystery star, Simon Munnery

May 2: Harry Hill, Boothby Graffoe

May 9: Kevin McAleer, Will Adamasdale (in Jackson's Way)

May 16: John Hegley, Stephen Carlin

May 23: Greg Fleet, Josie Long

The first 100 people who book tickets to the first four shows get the fifth free.

Published: 11 Dec 2007