11/24/2023 0 Comments Comedian sean lock“I used to go to comedy gigs and see people in pubs in London, then I started doing open spots and it was a hobby for many years,” he explained. Lock used his powers of observation gained from such a wide life experience to develop a stand-up act. He attributed a skin cancer diagnosis in 1990 to his work outside on building sites in the full glare of the sun, but made a full recovery after surgery. On leaving St John the Baptist school he took jobs as a builder’s labourer, a Department of Health and Social Security office worker, a toilet cleaner and a goat herder in France. Sean was born in Chertsey, Surrey, to Mary (nee McCreesh) and Sidney Lock, who worked in the building trade, and was brought up in Woking. Photograph: Steve Meddle/Rex/Shutterstock His untimely passing at the age of 58 in August 2021 is much to be lamented.Sean Lock, left with his fellow team captain Jason Manford, right, and host Jimmy Carr on the set of 8 Out of 10 Cats. Sean Lock once said: "I go to my office nearly every day, and I'll sit there for six or seven hours and come up with ideas, and that's the only way I can justify turning up on stage" and "the thing about comedy, there's something utterly delightful and slightly pure about a really good joke, and to create one is a great pleasure". In 2012, he was nominated for a Perrier Award as Best Male Television Comic. Between 20, he hosted and produced a panel show, TV Heaven, Telly Hell (2006), in which celebs were asked to recount and discuss their likes and dislikes in television history. As a writer, Lock also regularly contributed additional material to comedy shows featuring Bill Bailey, Lee Evans, Phill Jupitus and Alan Davies. In 2000, Lock was voted Best Live Comic at the British Comedy Awards (that same year, Rob Brydon was voted Best Newcomer). This spawned a 12-part TV series, 15 Storeys High (2002), which he also primarily scripted. By 1998, he had his own radio sitcom, 15 Minutes of Misery, in which he starred as a resident in a high-rise tower block, eavesdropping on neighbours via hidden microphones installed by his plumber "Hot Bob". In 1988, Lock had his first 20 minute gig at a pub in Stoke Newington in north-east London which resulted in a £15 paycheque and confirmed the future course of his career. He has cited Dave Allen and Alexei Sayle, among others, as having been a "massive influence". While this did not pan out, he discovered, through frequent visits to comedy clubs studying different techniques, that humour was more his forte. He eventually undertook studies at the Drama Centre in London, hoping to become an actor. Lock then tried his hand at other short-term pursuits, including as a goat herder, toilet cleaner and social security office worker. Exposed to the sun and having unwisely eschewed sunscreens, he developed a malignant melanoma at 27 which was successfully treated. For seven years, he worked on high scaffolds, stripping concrete panels from buildings. After leaving school, his father got him a job as a labourer. The son of Sidney Lock, a worker in the construction business, and Mary (nee McCreesh), Sean grew up in Surrey. Between 20 he was voted in a public poll conducted by Channel 4, respectively, 55th and 19th in the all-time greatest ever list of stand-up comics. Lock was perhaps best known for his frequent guest appearances on Stephen Fry's QI (2003), and, more so, as a regular team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats (2005) and its sequel 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2012) (a collective tenure which spanned almost sixteen years). Either as host or panellist, he knew how to have audiences in stitches with his unique blend of darkly absurdist humour, his material ranging from the everyday commonplace to the wholly bizarre. His screen persona has been described as "studiedly obtuse". Sean Lock was a genuine comedic original. He was one of the funniest guys in British television, much acclaimed for his dry wit and deadpan delivery, both on and off the set.
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