Stewart Lee is not taking such a long break from stand-up comedy as was initially thought.

On his website earlier this year promoting his April Royal Festival Hall shows it said: "Stewart is 50 years old in 2018 and, after performing these shows, he intends to take the longest break from stand-up he’s had since his four year disappearance at the start of the century."

But further down on the page his appearances at three forthcoming benefit gigs are listed. 

On 13th June he appears as Hilarity for Charity at the Leicester Square Theatre in aid of community charities North London Cares and South London Cares. He will be joined by Carl Donnelly, Athena Kugblenu, Arnold Brown and Bridget Christie, with further acts to be announced. Buy tickets here.

On 8th July he appears at The Secret Spy Cops’ Ball For women tricked into relationships with undercover police at Jackson's Lane Theatre with Rob Newman, Evelyn Mok and Mark Steel. Buy tickets here.

And it has just been announced that before those gigs on May 18 Lee is headlining a gig in aid of Action on Hearing Loss, supported by Samantha Baines and Tom Gockelen-Kozlowski. Lee himself now wears a hearing aid. The intimate venue, the Museum Of Happiness, only holds 80 people. Buy tickets here.

Stewart Lee is, however, only doing two more performances of his Content Provider show. They are at the Royal Festival Hall on April 20 & 23. Buy tickets here.