Sean Lock: Lockipedia Live

Sean Lock seems to have been around forever, appearing on all manner of panel shows and pulling the proceedings out into surreal and occasionally outrageous tangents.

Despite his ubiquity, Lockipedia is only his second DVD release. You'd think he'd have been more prolific, given the capacious compendium of jokes after which this show is named.

The gimmick is Audience Battleships - he fires off a random seat number and dares the punter in question to pick a word, any word in the English language, and he delves into his big book of self-penned routines (The Lockipedia) for appropriate material. As expected, this usually shows no results and he affably riffs on the emptiness.

The majority of the show is material of course, but it's as natural and compelling as his improvisation. You can't help but like him - he has all the trappings of a working class hero but at the same time he transcends notions of status, delivering a convincing facsimile of someone who just doesn't care. This has almost universal appeal, and provides an effective stealth vehicle that somehow puts very dark material on the same level as the most facile observations. He's a lot smarter than he wants you to think he is.



Released on DVD on 22nd November 2010 by Universal Pictures.

Reviewed by Mike Stephenson.