Review by Steve Bennett

You wouldn't think it to look at him, this well-dressed, well-spoken chap who appears entirely sensible, dependable and plausible. But Sean Lock is as mad as a colander full of gravy.

That gap between what you see and what you get adds an extra dimension to what is always going to be a classy act. For while scores of comedians wrap their offbeat observations in a zany, stand-out-in-a-crowd image, Lock just blends in.

Yet he can be as odd as the rest, as he considers the origins of cake decorations, the very essence of atmosphere or the possibility of doing his entire hour-long show in the voice of Lester Piggott.

These are not wild flights of fancy - but a carefully restrained journey, hovering around each bizarre idea just long enough to pack in the finely-honed gags, before a knowing smile moves us onto the next topic.

Many of the themes seem utterly banal, but the devil is in the detail - and so are the laughs. And Lock mines every one with ruthless efficiency, hitting the target time after time.

The only time things flag slightly is an over-long routine about his grandmother drowning, when his usually perfect sense of timing seems to desert him temporarily, and the story extends beyond the end of the gags.

But a spectacularly distasteful budgie-maiming routine towards the climax of the show ratchets the comedy dial back up to 11, followed by a textbook example of how to neatly wrap up all the disparate threads of a completely unthemed show.

It's not the only lesson to be learnt from Lock, who continues to prove himself a ninja mastered of the comedy art.

Review date: 1 Jan 2002
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett