The comedian Trevor Lock is best known for his work on radio with Russell Brand and on television with Lee & Herring. I caught up with him to discuss his current tour of the nation’s living rooms.
Trevor, you’ve recently started a tour of people’s living rooms – how did this idea come about?
Well, it came about accidentally really. I was directing some shows for the Edinburgh Festival (Tim Clare’s ‘Death Drive’ and Joey Page’s show) and just before the festival they were running out of preview places to practice doing their shows, so I thought “Well, I’ve got a relatively large living room” – 15 people is quite a healthy audience, so I hosted it. Everyone just seemed to love it that much more than if it had been in a theatre and I realised I could tour for fans all over the world if I played in their living rooms.
Are you planning on taking the tour further than the UK then?
It’s been hard to do it around the world because I’m not rich enough! So I’m doing it around England and hopefully that will go really well; then I will find a way to go around the world and do it to the poor, starving people of… Connecticut and Sao Paulo…
How did you end up with Chris Dangerfield and Joey Page as support acts?
I had known Joey for a couple of years and he was a researcher for a double act I was in with Paul Foot, then he started doing stand-up and I liked what he did. He’s a lovely fella… And Chris stalked me for about two months. He got my number – somehow – and came to a few of my shows and after a while I thought “Oh God, go and see him”. So I went to see him and I was blown away.
He’s also very well dressed.
Yes. He spends a lot of time and money on his clothes. They’re all hand tailored, he’s a very well turned-out man. Very boastful and arrogant too.
Having your clothes tailor-made could instil an air of arrogance in you…
Yes, I suppose. I don’t know what came first, the arrogance or the clothes.
This isn’t the first time you’ve interacted this closely with your audience. You previously auctioned off a ‘Five Minutes Awkward Silence with Trevor Lock’ on eBay – how did that go?
A woman bought it in Sheffield and seemed to misunderstand it as some sort of sexual favour… So far we haven’t arranged it because we need to clarify the terms and conditions of it. It has not yet been redeemed. I will be re-launching Awkward Silence, but I don’t know when.
Is it true that Boy George will be having you in his living room?
I beg your pardon?! No, it’s true. I’ve had a couple of conversations with Fat Tony (his partner).
Isn’t he a cartoon character?
No, he is very real. Maybe the character was based on him. Or maybe he was based on the cartoon character… Anyway, he has been trying to negotiate a date for me to come and do my show at his house in Hampstead. We haven’t yet nailed down a date though, but it is true.
After you did a gig in my front room, you took my friend’s camera home with you. Now, you claimed this was an accident but we have since noticed that the TV remote has also gone missing…
Probably Chris has taken it and sold it on the black market. And invested the money in… black gold or something. Whatever that is… What is black gold?
Isn’t it Guinness?
Ah, oil. That’s it. Well, neither of us has a television so I think Chris must have taken it, swapped it and is now living on a yacht.
Well we can’t play Xbox now…
Well, you shouldn’t play Xbox anyway. You should be out exercising on the playing fields. Or copping off with girls. Or boys. Whatever you fancy.
Fair enough. Do you have any advice for our student readers looking to adapt to the normal world after finishing their degrees?
There’s nothing to worry about. You will become a normal person. You will readjust into the collective dream of society unless you make tremendous efforts or naturally realise that it’s a load of nonsense. Don’t worry about being a student forever, or tying your shoelaces up, or putting your pants on before your trousers, it will happen, unfortunately. However, if you want to avoid readjusting and mind control by the state… well, that’s a much longer paragraph to read out to you!
Thanks for your time, Trevor.
No problem, goodbye.
Go to http://www.lockinmylounge.com/ for more information on getting Trevor Lock and his cohorts to perform live in your living room.
