Sean Lock

Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor.

Lock was born in Chertsey, Surrey, on 22 April 1963.

His father, Sidney, worked in the building industry.

His mother, Mary (née McCreesh), was from Cullaville, County Armagh.

Lock, the youngest of four children, was raised in Woking, Surrey, where he attended St John the Baptist School.

During Lock's teenage years, he watched art-house films on BBC Two, and named Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 science-fiction film Stalker as one that affected him greatly.

In 1981, he left education with a grade E in English A-Level.

Afterwards, his father got him a job stripping concrete panels off buildings.

After spending seven years as a labourer, he travelled, taking on different jobs.

For six weeks, he worked on a French farm as a goat herder and worked on a kibbutz in Israel.

During this period, he also worked as a toilet cleaner and a Department of Health and Social Security office worker.

During his work as a labourer, he developed skin cancer.

He then decided to pursue acting and enrolled at the Drama Centre London, though he soon realised he had made an error.

He quit and returned to being a labourer.

After Lock saw comedians like Alexei Sayle and Paul Merton performing in comedy clubs, he decided to pursue comedy.

Throughout this time, he visited comedy shows in London pubs and started doing open-mic spots as a hobby.

In 1988, Lock had his first official gig at a pub in Stoke Newington, London.

After being paid £15 for his 20 minutes, he realised he could pursue being a comedian as a career.

Lock's early television work included a supporting role alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel in the 1993 series Newman and Baddiel in Pieces including touring with them as their support act.

Frank Skinner and Eddie Izzard are credited as major influences on his comedy.

A popular belief is that Lock was the first stand-up comedian to perform at Wembley Arena, as he was the support act for Newman and Baddiel.

But, while Lock was the support act, he only featured in skits in the middle of the show.

Lock made regular appearances on various radio panel shows and script-edited for Bill Bailey's 1998 BBC2 series, Is It Bill Bailey?.

In December 1998, he launched his own show on BBC Radio 4, 15 Minutes of Misery, originally as a five-episode pilot.

These shows also featured actors Kevin Eldon and Hattie Hayridge.

The premise involved Lock eavesdropping on his neighbours in his south London tower block (all played by Lock, Eldon and Hayridge) using a bugging device fitted by his plumber, "Hot Bob" (Eldon), which was known as "The Bugger King" (and had "nothing to do with meat or sex").

15 Minutes of Misery lasted for one series of six programmes in late 1998 and early 1999.

In 1999, 15 Minutes of Misery was expanded into the half-hour series 15 Storeys High, co-written by Lock and Martin Trenaman.

From ostensibly the same tower block, Lock's character was now given a flatmate (the hapless Errol) and a job at the local swimming baths, as well as a somewhat dour and intolerant demeanour.

The bugging device was no longer used, but the antics of Lock's neighbours still featured heavily in the show.

The plots for this series were more linear in a "traditional" sitcom style, although they still showed Lock's brand of dark, surreal humour.

He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award.

15 Storeys High would transfer to television after two radio series, with Lock's character renamed 'Vince', for a further two series in 2002 and 2004.

Initially aired on BBC Choice, it follows a cynical Vince and his naive flatmate Errol (Benedict Wong).

He was a team captain on the Channel 4 comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats from 2005 to 2015, and on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown from 2012 until his death in 2021.

Lock frequently appeared on stage, television and radio.

His routines were often surreal and delivered in a deadpan style.

He also wrote material for Bill Bailey, Lee Evans and Mark Lamarr.

Lock was voted the 55th-greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups in 2007, and he was upgraded to 19th in the updated 2010 list.

He was a frequent guest on other panel shows, including BBC's Have I Got News for You, QI and They Think It's All Over.