Lee Mack
Mack is quite old-school in some respects, with the kind of material that plays nicely to all generations, and he has some amusing ideas. He opened with a nice gag about his Franz Ferdinand entrance music (the band named after the Austrian instigator of both World Wars, lest we forget), and continued at a pleasant pace...
His movements around the stage were a bit annoying at times, as you wish he'd just settle down instead of prancing around, but fortunately his jokes were strong enough to gloss over that. Riverdance cheap seats (so you can only see the dancers' upper bodies), pretending to be asleep in a car, predictive text/talking/Tourettes, South African accents being like backwards playing records -- all were memorable.
There were some dull spots, but the audience seemed quite forgiving because of his cheeky style and obvious enthusiasm on-stage. So, while this wasn't a great stand-up turn... it was pretty good, and I certainly laughed.
Sean Lock
I remember hating Sean Lock when he first appeared on the scene, because his act was a clear copy of Harry Hill's (complete with comically-enlarged shirt collars). These days, he still deals with the surreal most of the time, but his act has become less stylized. His stand-up performance wasn't particularly great here, but there were some funny gags sprinkled around: the British cheering broken plates, 'flu sex, crazy golf, whale food, an annoying neighbour and torturing a budgie.
But inbetween those highlights, his material was quite thin and not particularly memorable. A diversion about Wembley Stadium was a real dud, as was a joke about "the stupidest man in America" Michael Flatley. Lock's style is very laconic, and I personally prefer more enthusiasm from comedians dealing with surreal/bizarre jokes. Ultimately, Lock's performance did nothing to change my opinion that he's a better writer/panel show guest than an actual stand-up comedian..
