Who's better at bowling – sketch favourites Pappy's or hot new kids on the block The Beta Males? And just how competitive are they? Emma McAlpine finds out...
Pappy's: (from left) Tom Parry, Ben Clark and Matthew Crosby
Pappy’s have long been sketch favourites on the comedy circuit, earning themselves an Edinburgh award nomination in 2007 for their hilarious brand of silly, low-budget ‘dickheadery’. Meanwhile, young pretenders The Beta Males stormed Edinburgh with their last show The Bunker, a brilliant dystopian satire which earned them a string of five star reviews. As the two groups share a double bill of their 2010 shows this Sunday, Spoonfed thought we’d invite them to take part in some healthy competition at the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, and see just how deep the rivalry goes.
The Betas: (from left) Guy Kelly, John Henry Falle, Richard Soames and Jon Gracey
In the end, it was hard to say who the overall winner was, perhaps it was bowling. After interviewing the boys post-match, several things became clear. John Henry definitely doesn't drive, Matthew Crosby shouldn't drive and despite the dog-eat-dog atmosphere we witnessed out on the lanes, there’s plenty of man love to be found on the all-male sketch scene.
Pappy's: "Age before..." Betas: "Talent?"
When did you guys first meet?
TP: In Edinburgh last year we needed a lot of cameo appearances, so the Betas came and did a few of those. They were the bailiffs at the start of it.
JHF: We literally stole the show.
MC: We saw The Bunker at the Udderbelly and it was really good. So we've kept them close. You know what they say: ‘Keep your enemies close...’
JHF: And your friends closer?
Pappy's in unison: No.
BC: We're very distant with friends.
Betas, The Bunker was a huge success. Were you really chuffed with how it was received?
RS: We were really lucky, The Bunker has fuelled our year.
JHF: We wanted to find a sense of community in it. A Royston Vasey space you could meet all these characters in.
Pappy's, you've been performing for a bit longer than the Betas. Do you have any advice for them from one sketch group to another?
TP: Give up. Turn back while you still can!
JHF: Wow, it’s great to meet your heroes....
GK: It's like meeting Superman and he just shakes his head at you.
So Betas, have you been fans of Pappy's for a while then?
JG: Absolutely. I first saw them in 2009 when they were doing Funenergy in Edinburgh. It was the highlight.
Really you’re all quite a supportive bunch aren't you?!
TP: Yeah, the sketch scene on the whole is really supportive and friendly.
MC: What's interesting about this sketch scene as well is that everyone is doing something very different. It’s always nice to see something and think “This is brilliant but I couldn’t it.” It’s the same with The Penny Dreadfuls.
TP: The only advice we can give to anyone really is don't stop doing it, if you love doing it, just try not to get too disillusioned.
MC: It sounds like you're about to talk yourself out of it! "There's going to be a lot of car journeys..." Play every gig that's really important. Don't presume some gigs won’t be suited to sketch comedy because that's really changing on the live circuit right now.
JHF: The first time I ever saw Pappy's was in Camden Head on a mixed bill. I was just over from Jersey where there's not a huge comedy scene and they'd built a whole world in the corner of a pub. It was really inspirational.
RS: It always impressed me how you managed to do stand-up nights; we've done our best to make ourselves accessible to those kind of gigs as well.
TP: I don't want this to sound like we're passing on pearls of wisdom though. The first time I saw The Beta Males I thought “This is really, really brilliant.” The final section of their first Edinburgh show was this incredible play. We're just as inspired by them as they are by us.
Betas, Pappy's have said before that Matthew is the controlling one, Ben is the ethereal one and Tom – the troublemaker. What are your individual characteristics?
MC: Yeah, who's the ethereal one?
JHF: Probably Richard Soames with his beautiful eyes.
RS: They're vulnerable like deers’ eyes, that’s what I’ve been told.
JHF: I'm the naked, loud hairy one. It's my balls on the line.
JG: I'm the angry one. At school I used to get cripplingly embarrassed and go very red. Now I turn that into anger on stage. I’m dealing with my neuroses.
GK: I don’t want to be the first one to describe myself as beautiful but....
JG: Beautiful, modest...
TP: How do you guys get to gigs by the way? Do you have a car?
JG: We're only based in London at the moment so we make our own way to them but soon we'll have to start thinking about...
JHF: Car-ing.
TP: Car-ing. Take it you don't drive then?!
JHF: That's what we call it in Jersey.
What about you Pappys – do you have a fun bus?
TP: It's Ben's car at the moment and it's not that fun, no.
Who does all the driving?
BC: Tom and I.
Are you a bit dangerous behind the wheel Matt?
MC: I wouldn't trust myself. I don't think even if I did learn how to drive they'd be happy. If I do die in a car crash at least with my dying breath I'll be able to look over to Tom and Ben say "I bloody knew this would lead to trouble" as I pull a steering wheel out of my chest.
BC: Worst car-ing ever.
MC: Should never have gone car-ing.
Pappy's: All Business + The Beta Males: The Bunker is on at King's Place on Sunday May 22nd.
Photo credit: Alex Brenner
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