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Sean Lock: Purple Van Man
Live Review
Guildford G Live

Sean Lock has built an enviable reputation on scatterbrained ideas he hasn’t thought through properly, firing off the sort of mad philosophies a barfly might come up with seven hours into an all-day session. It’s a creatively cock-eyed way of thinking, which leads him to ideas that are as hilarious as they are fanciful.

But the lack of rigour that he celebrates can also, sometimes, percolate through to his comedy; and there are several routines in his meaninglessly-titled tour Purple Van Man which peter out with a pffft, as he loses sight of where punchlines are needed. Such indulgences are quickly forgiven, however, just as soon as he blindsides the audience with the next original and quirky image from his off-kilter imagination.

When he’s addressing the sort of dilemmas that arise from sozzled conversation, he has an unshakeable conviction that he’s right. He absolutely knows whether it would be better to share a sleeping bag with Ronnie Wood or Jeremy Vine, for example, and has a thesis to back it up.

Yet when it comes to explaining the world to his children, such certainties evaporate, and he’s left to far-fetched lies to explain the likes of gravity or Velcro. Not that such a lack of practical knowledge stops him from coming up with business ideas, which aren’t always as hare-brained as they might first appear.

Of course, no bar-stool philosopher would be complete without a political agenda, and Lock has some impeccably cutting remarks our ruling elite, including an exquisite insult for Ed Miliband. He has some left-wing tendencies, as most comics tend to, but when it comes to crime and punishment, he’d admits to being a little to the right of Hitler, or even Michael Gove.

However he comes unstuck in a too-long routine about Chinese manufacturing dominance and sweat-shop labour that leaves you longing for a return to his surreal forte – such as the single defining routine of the show, about a badly-designed centaur, which he brings brilliantly, and extravagantly, to life in the most unexpected of ways.

When it comes to his own quixotic manifesto, set out with the repetition of the phrase ‘I want to live in a world where...’, it’s hard to dispute the principles of his utopia, however impractical. This is observational comedy with a dash of the absurd, that’s still easy to identify with.

Lock’s gift is that you never quite know where he’s going to go, either in topics or approach, one minute pondering why the meerkat insurance ads aren’t racist, the next suggesting ideas for super-niche radio stations, the next praising the carefree drunk young women that newspapers would have you believe a sign of broken Britain.

One subject he does return to is the sexualisation of pop. Having so effectively mocked Madonna’s aggressive eroticism in his previous show, here it’s Rihanna who’s the example of raunch over talent.

An encore in which he decodes how ballet moves tell a story, complete with far too many clumsy leaps around the stage, seems to entertain him more than the audience; but he’s earned it from the gems he liberally sprinkled throughout the previous two hours.

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Painfully unfunny, grating. Ruins every episode of QI he's in.

Fig, April 2013

You are a superstar, you never fail to make me laugh out loud. Loved your live performance in Stoke, more please!

Dawn, February 2012

Mr C - you quite obviously know fuck all - coeliac disease is a serious debilitating condition. It is an auto-immune condition which can lead to bowel cancer, osteoporosis and infertility if untreated. Serious enough for you? why don't you restrict yourself to commenting on the CBBC website in future - this is about your intellectual level, you tosser.

lr, November 2011

Saw in Croydon this week was great - due to the snow the theatre was pretty empty so did not get to see battleships the review speaks of at its best. Although he did abandon his car and walk to make sure the show still went ahead!

aaron, December 2010

Awwwwwwwww shame... you've got a food intolerance. Awwwwwww... poor you. Never mind, at least you haven't lost your sense of humour. Ooops!

Happy Harry, August 2010

Saw him in St Albans and thought he was all right. Aren't all comediens 'self opinionated'? Jimmy Carr, Frankie Boyle, Frank Skinner, Billy Connolly... they all alienate people, it's only when it hits close to home that we moan.

Mark Waites, May 2010

Very funny, and very original. He interacts with the audience well, and even makes fun of himself when not getting the big laughs. Genuinely funny, and he comes across very well. One note is that if your going to watch him and expect his weird sense of humour (which I love) to be in every joke, it won't be, but that does not affect what is a great show.

Fan Of Comedy, April 2010

Sean Lock was very funny in Leicester last night, on the opening night of his Lockipedia tour. Some parts did fall flat, however with a few minor adjustments, he will have a top notch routine! I really liked the "audience battleships" part of the show. So if you do go and see the show, make sure you prepare yourself for banter with Sean (even if you're in the circle). Thanks for a top night Sean. Looking forward to the DVD.

James, February 2010

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