Interview: Pappy's

Interview: Pappy's

16 April, 2010
by: Emma

Record Breakers? Emma McAlpine chats to the former if.comedy nominees about the onerous task of performing 200 sketches in 60 minutes.

Booking the Pleasance One for the Edinburgh Festival could be daunting for some comedy acts, especially if there is any doubt about whether you're going to be able to fill it. This wasn't a problem for sketch jesters Pappy's last year, who sold out their month-long run and subsequently embarked on a 50-date national tour.

The title of the show World Record Attempt: 200 Sketches in an Hour is ambitious to say the least but even when the wheels come off, the audience are enjoying themselves far too much count. Former if.comedy award nominees, the trio (made up of Tom Parry, Matthew Crosby and Ben Clark) had a bit of a cabinet reshuffle last November after Brendan Dodds left the group and they shortened their name from Pappy's Fun Club to Pappy's.

Making a few adjustments to the show, they threw themselves into a nationwide tour, picking up a slew of four and five star reviews in the process. As they bring it to a close this month with one last huzzah at the Bloomsbury Theatre, we caught up with bespectacled Pappy's member Matthew Crosby for a quick chat.

For readers who haven't seen it yet - how does the show work? Surely sketches are so fast there's little time for comedy?

Making sure we put on a funny show has always been the priority. At the start of the show we stress that this is a World Record ‘Attempt’. If the audience have a good time, that’s more satisfying than breaking a world record, isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Have Guinness been in touch?!

We have had an email from someone who works for Guinness, perhaps we could have them with a clipboard and a stop watch at the side of the stage when we play the Bloomsbury on the 30th. That’ll be the last ever World Record Attempt so it’d be nice to get the recognition we deserve.

Has the dynamic of the group changed now that you’re a trio  - is Tom still the troublemaker?

I don’t think anything is going to change Tom’s role. He seems to get a twisted thrill out of taking the show into uncharted waters. Leaving me and Ben to try and steer it back. He’s never been too concerned by script - largely, I think, because he’s never been that good at remembering a script.

Is 200 sketches in an hour harder with only 3 of you?

The first few shows left us a little out of breath but by now we’re over 40 shows into the tour - we’re models of fitness. Or we would be if we didn’t buy dinner in service stations all the time.

You've performed the show quite a few times now, is it a well-oiled machine or a rusty Quattro?

I don’t think our performing ability allows us to be slick and well oiled. And we do mix things up each night to keep the show fresh for us and for the audience. Hopefully each show will feel like a unique experience, rather than us plodding through a script.

You played the biggest Pleasance Courtyard venue at the Festival last year - was that scary?

The shows themselves weren’t scary, it was more worrying that no one would show up. Luckily those fears were unfounded and, by the end of the month, over 7000 had seen the show.

You're renowned for your wonderfully silly sketches. What's the daftest one you've come up with?

Probably, the sketch set in 1852 in which the characters think you hear through your mouth. I remember the silence in the car after Tom suggested it as a sketch and the numerous rewrites to make it work onstage. But in the end it paid off. It’s hard to say why it’s funny but it is.

The Penny Dreadfuls once told us about a stalker they had on Facebook. Have you guys attracted any creepy fans yet?

Our fans are lovely, they give us movie posters and cakes and send us lovely messages on Twitter. I won’t hear a bad word against them. This is indicative of the sort of attitude the Dreadfuls have to their audience. The thing is, showing up to see a bunch of shows isn’t stalking, it’s being a fan. I said the same thing to Michael Bublé just last week as I was being dragged out of his dressing room by security.

What's next for Pappy’s - how are you going to top a Guinness World Record attempt?

You’ll have to come to Edinburgh (or see us on tour) to find out. That’s right, I ended the interview with a teaser.

Pappy's World Record Attempt: 200 Sketches in an Hour  is at the Bloomsbury on Friday. 30th April.

Buy tickets

See more sketch comedy
See more Things to do in London

Return to the London Comedy homepage.

Emma