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Sean Lock has died

Started by Ham Bap, August 18, 2021, 11:02:53 AM

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msm

Quote from: imitationleather on August 25, 2021, 09:33:52 PM
Learning there's a third series of 15 Storeys High that never got made has seriously ruined my day.
BUGGER

The Mollusk

#271
Quote from: jsgibble on August 25, 2021, 01:42:07 PM
There's a DVD rip here - subtitles included in the file as are the 4 commentaries

Fucking hell thank you so much.

Stewart Lee's tribute to Sean from his latest newsletter:

I'm going to end on a note about Sean Lock, as these days not posting anything on Social Media, due to not actually being on social media, can be taken as callous indifference, and there tends to be a rush to comment in the light of any loss.

My condolences to his family and friends. S Lock always felt like he was in the year above me, due to me starting as a regular circuit comedian in 1989, and him being about 18 months ahead of me, so I never knew him in the way I did contemporaries like Harry Hill or Simon Munnery.

I liked the way S Lock combined whimsy and surrealism with casual arrogance and furious belligerence.

He did a routine - only once I think - at the Red Rose circa 1991 that is one of the funniest, most scatological, most surreal, and curiously the most humane, I ever saw and it made me weep with laughter, alone. It was about him doing stools in the shape of genitals, and then masturbating over them as they bumped together in the toilet bowl, an incident he relayed to the audience as if it were regrettable but also somehow understandably inevitable. S Lock thought this new bit was rubbish and never did it again, and whenever I asked him about it, and said it was the best thing he ever did, I think he thought I was being sarcastic, which often happens when I am being sincere. I thought 15 Storeys High was brilliant, one of the great British sit-coms, and like many I despaired of the BBC's poor treatment of it.

I loved it and yet I could rarely find out when it was on due to sudden unpublicized rescheduling, back in the pre-iplayer days. I remember saying to S Lock that I couldn't believe how radical the camerawork was in the 1st series and couldn't quite believe they had had the guts to submit it. I think Sean despaired about what happened to the series too, and so did the co-writers Mark Lamarr and Martin Trenaman I expect. I remember Armando really lobbying for it in the press.

Its white working class world was exactly the sort of landscape the BBC now beats itself up about not accommodating, but 15 Storey's towerblock vistas were more Vladimir and Estragon than Danny Dyer and Eastenders.

It suits my view of things to think that it was this despair that drove S Lock into arms of panel shows, but there he stood head and shoulders above the form, like a tall man in a ditch. It suits my view of him to think that, having found himself shipwrecked upon panel show island, he chose to beautify it as best he could, often coming close to subverting the genre. I doubt he liked me especially and on the few occasions we did meet we always seemed to be talking at cross purposes, usually ending in some misunderstanding, though we barely encountered each other this century. S Lock would not be drawn into criticizing other lesser but better known talents' debt to his work, even when it was painfully obvious and borderline criminal.

He once advised me at length on his methods of avoiding post-show drinking, which involved hot baths and camper vans respectively, and I wish I had paid more attention. Like a lot of the free jazz types I know, and despite his dabblings in art with the film maker Andrew Kotting in the '90s and his avowed desire to make 15 Storeys look like a Nordic art film, S Lock would not discuss the idea that his work was anything other than entertainment, not with me anyway, but I have been told that I do tend to over-analyse things.

The amount of effort S Lock (and his writers) put into his panel show appearances, which left me astonished in my naivety the only time I ever tried to fit the square peg of me into the round hole of 8 Out Of 10 Cats (I thought it was all improvised!), contradicted this apparent casualness. In about 2005 I was trying to escape Avalon management, a solid career move of which S Lock was an early pioneer ("You're breaking these kids' hearts", I remember him saying to the company's promoters in Edinburgh in '95 or so as they ran another hapless 20-something hopeful into insurmountable debt). I was in an Indian restaurant in Nottingham with S Lock and D Kitson and I was trying to persuade D Kitson to manage me as his 'client', as I wanted to be able to reach the small but discerning audiences he did, and without doing any television or publicity.

S Lock said we were a pair of fucking idiots. I don't know why he was so annoyed, but wonder if he took my attempt to eschew popular mechanisms as a personal criticism. My favorite of S Lock's stage outfits was a green Riddler costume he wore in Edinburgh's Pleasance cabaret bar, but he always looked cool in a proto-Britpop Jarvis kind of way.

My favorite routine of his remains the aforesaid one where he masturbates over genital shaped pieces of excrement which are floating in a toilet. My favorite anecdote concerning him comes from Leicester Sq Theatre stage manager Jason Tribe, via tour manager James Hingley, and concerns a tramp, a dog, an open fire escape, and Liam Gallagher, but it is not mine to share.

S Lock was on the list of comedians to take my kids to see when they were old enough so they knew what good stand up was, which we have already begun working through, and which just got one shorter. I wish he had done another project like 15 Storeys High and whoever kept fucking up its scheduling should be ashamed, but it is hard work to build a world from the ground up twice. The last time we saw S Lock, out for a walk on a Spring day, he looked very unwell indeed but told us it was long covid.

The first two heavy reggae UB40 albums, on which the saxophone of the also recently departed Brian Travers was the lead instrument, are also superb in a way people who only know their pop career won't believe.

But when UB40 went mainstream they sadly didn't do it with any of the style and subversion S Lock, the rat in panel show comedy's kitchen, did.

jobotic

Can't remember if it was Pool Kids or Dead Swan but who played the bloke who sings "Good King Wecenslas" when he's playing the They're Coming To Take Me Away board game? He's brilliant.

Petey Pate

QuoteMy favorite anecdote concerning him comes from Leicester Sq Theatre stage manager Jason Tribe, via tour manager James Hingley, and concerns a tramp, a dog, an open fire escape, and Liam Gallagher, but it is not mine to share.

Fuck's sake Stewart, why even mention it then?

Nice tribute despite that.

The Mollusk

God I'm still really cut up about this. Reading that Stewart Lee excerpt there had me welling up.

kalowski

Very odd that he refers to him as S Lock throughout, like a school report from a 1920s boarding school.

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: kalowski on August 26, 2021, 09:44:53 AM
Very odd that he refers to him as S Lock throughout, like a school report from a 1920s boarding school.

I think it's because he is often called S Lee.

Captain Z

I did note in Keep It Light that S Lock performed almost the exact same joke about "difficult to imagine a more tax-avoiding scenario" as S Lee. Not impossible that they came up with it independently, but I wondered which came first.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: jobotic on August 26, 2021, 09:21:34 AM
Can't remember if it was Pool Kids or Dead Swan but who played the bloke who sings "Good King Wecenslas" when he's playing the They're Coming To Take Me Away board game? He's brilliant.

That was Rob Rouse, I think he was more of a stand up than an actor at that time.

lb99

Quote from: Petey Pate on August 26, 2021, 09:42:16 AM
Fuck's sake Stewart, why even mention it then?

Nice tribute despite that.

It's a joke, isn't it?

Barry Admin

Great tribute from S Lee, thanks for sharing that Wayman.

up_the_hampipe

Always liked that story of Lock telling Kitson and Lee they're idiots. As much as I love all three, I can imagine eavesdropping on that conversation at the time made them sound like a right pair of pretentious twerps.

Sebastian Cobb

In fairness, Lee does claim (and it would appear to be valid) that he tries to satisfy demand on his tours and will put extra dates on if he looks like he could fill them (he added a second night in Glasgow for instance). Whereas I feel like Kitson actively thrives on a reputation of scarcity, this would also be backed up by how he's quite protective over the live experience, rarely releasing recordings etc.

neveragain

Quote from: jobotic on August 26, 2021, 09:21:34 AM
Can't remember if it was Pool Kids or Dead Swan but who played the bloke who sings "Good King Wecenslas" when he's playing the They're Coming To Take Me Away board game? He's brilliant.

I find that section genuinely unsettling... Which is good.
Toby Jones' strangulated scream when Paul Putner farts in his flat is also distressing but hilarious.

Uncle TechTip

I'm glad i was reminded of him ending a show dressed as Riddler, i saw him do this and whilst i remember nothing about the routine, i do remember his cock bulging out of the costume and being something of a distraction. A Sean Lock Cock Block.

dissolute ocelot

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on August 26, 2021, 12:53:35 PM
In fairness, Lee does claim (and it would appear to be valid) that he tries to satisfy demand on his tours and will put extra dates on if he looks like he could fill them (he added a second night in Glasgow for instance).
And then Lee mocks the audiences of the additional shows for not being real fans. (I don't think S Lee needed career advice from S Lock.)

buttgammon

I'm at my mum's house, where I left my 15 Storeys High DVDs. I started rewatching them on YouTube but something was lost, so I'm delighted to be able to see them again in this format.

Quote from: jobotic on August 26, 2021, 09:21:34 AM
Can't remember if it was Pool Kids or Dead Swan but who played the bloke who sings "Good King Wecenslas" when he's playing the They're Coming To Take Me Away board game? He's brilliant.

"You're allowed to wear a belt".

This is a particularly favourite bit of mine for some reason, it gets stuck in my head.

Quote from: neveragain on August 26, 2021, 01:01:17 PM
I find that section genuinely unsettling... Which is good.
Toby Jones' strangulated scream when Paul Putner farts in his flat is also distressing but hilarious.

Also this (and then the shot of Putner in the bath playing under the credits).

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on August 26, 2021, 12:53:35 PM
In fairness, Lee does claim (and it would appear to be valid) that he tries to satisfy demand on his tours and will put extra dates on if he looks like he could fill them (he added a second night in Glasgow for instance). Whereas I feel like Kitson actively thrives on a reputation of scarcity, this would also be backed up by how he's quite protective over the live experience, rarely releasing recordings etc.

I don't fault either of them for having that approach, I can just only imagine how it sounded in passing conversation at a time before they were so critically acclaimed.

Barry Admin

I'd actually been referencing Sean Lock on here this past wee while, specifically his appearance in the documentary that was made about Newman and Baddiel playing Wembley.

"I'm not bitter" - couldn't tell you a single other thing about that show, but god, I've.carried that with me a long time now. He was just effortlessly hilarious even then, despite what little we saw of him.

#290
Quote from: jsgibble on August 25, 2021, 01:42:07 PM
There's a DVD rip here - subtitles included in the file as are the 4 commentaries

Thank you so much for this. The uploads on YouTube look like utter shit.

The Culture Bunker

He was in the series 'Newman and Baddiel in Pieces' too - recurring role as a crap nature show presenter who kills the endangered animals and one or two other parts. He played an estate agent in Newman's sketch about trying to find somewhere new to live - "but it's in this bedroom that your girlfriend will lock herself in and say 'I'm not coming out until you've calmed down'...". Had he done any other TV before that?

Looks like 15 Storeys High is going up on iPlayer tonight.

beanheadmcginty

Interesting story from this week's Popbitch:


"About ten years ago, Sean Lock was being considered for a part in a British indie film. The American execs attached to the project had never heard of him, so the director sent over a bunch of TV clips to make a case for his casting.

It worked a treat. The Americans all loved him and got fully behind the idea. The only problem was that Sean was having a bit of trouble making the shoot dates. In the end, despite everyone's best efforts, they just couldn't make their schedules align. The Americans were particularly sad about it, as they'd really taken to Sean and were convinced he was perfect for the part.

The actor who ended up taking his place instead? Billy Zane."

Anybody know the film?

Quote from: Peter St. John on August 27, 2021, 04:41:27 PM
Looks like 15 Storeys High is going up on iPlayer tonight.

Saw this confirmed. Going up at 7pm tonight.

https://twitter.com/skillagesteve/status/1431279184043778054?s=21

Shame it's taken till after he's died to go on the iplayer, but still great that more people will get to see it.

Alberon

Quote from: beanheadmcginty on August 27, 2021, 05:22:22 PM
Interesting story from this week's Popbitch:


"About ten years ago, Sean Lock was being considered for a part in a British indie film. The American execs attached to the project had never heard of him, so the director sent over a bunch of TV clips to make a case for his casting.

It worked a treat. The Americans all loved him and got fully behind the idea. The only problem was that Sean was having a bit of trouble making the shoot dates. In the end, despite everyone's best efforts, they just couldn't make their schedules align. The Americans were particularly sad about it, as they'd really taken to Sean and were convinced he was perfect for the part.

The actor who ended up taking his place instead? Billy Zane."

Anybody know the film?

This one, perhaps?

'Flutter'

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1579951/?ref_=vp_back

Zane played the role 'Dentist'. He's not in the trailer on Imdb, but I can see how Lock would have fitted into a role like that.

AsparagusTrevor

Quote from: Bobloblawslawbomb on August 27, 2021, 05:35:37 PM
Saw this confirmed. Going up at 7pm tonight.

https://twitter.com/skillagesteve/status/1431279184043778054?s=21

Shame it's taken till after he's died to go on the iplayer, but still great that more people will get to see it.

A nice 'fuck you' to the people trying to profit off the DVDs.

Magnum Valentino

I wonder is in different condition to the DVDs given they haven't the same compression/space limitations to factor in

Ingsoc

Quote from: Peter St. John on August 27, 2021, 04:41:27 PM
Looks like 15 Storeys High is going up on iPlayer tonight.

Complete with laugh track on episode 6 of series 1?

bigfatheart

Almost certainly taken down once one of the cuntier papers gets wind of the (innocuous) Jim'll Fix It reference.