| Pappy's | |
|---|---|
| Pseudonym | Pappy's Fun Club (2004-2009) |
| Medium | Television, theatre, radio, podcasts |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Genres | Sketch comedy |
| Members | Ben Clark Matthew Crosby Tom Parry |
| Former members | Brendan Dodds |
| Website | pappyscomedy |
Pappy's, originally known as Pappy's Fun Club, is a British three-man comedy act, composed of comedians Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry. [1] The sketch troupe previously performed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but now mostly talk on podcasts about balconies and spaghetti. They regularly produce podcasts under the Pappy's Flatshare heading, [2] and created and starred in the BBC Three sitcom Badults . [3]
Pappy's started out as a four-man comedy collective called "Pappy's Fun Club", consisting of Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby, Brendan Dodds, and Tom Parry. [4] The group met at the University of Kent and started out performing in Canterbury and Wolverhampton. [5] They later moved to London and in 2004, began performing regular shows in The Old Coffee House, in Soho, London. Pappy's Fun Club made their self-titled debut appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006, as part of the Free Fringe. [6] In February 2007, the group was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Chortle Awards. [7]
In August 2007, the team returned to the Fringe with their second show, which received critical acclaim. It was performed at Just The Tonic, located in C Soco urban garden, Cowgate. Several top comedy critics praised it, with Dominic Maxwell describing the show as "extraordinarily fresh" [8] and Bruce Dessau praising their "instinctive rapport" and "the general air of merriment". [9] However, not all reviews were positive, with Brian Logan's review of a performance in Brighton stating that "little distinguishes these four youngsters from countless other all-male sketch troupes". [10] The show was nominated for the 2007 if.comedy award (formerly the Perrier Comedy Award, now the Edinburgh Comedy Awards). [11] They later won the 2008 Chortle Award for best sketch, variety or character act. [12]
In March 2008, the team performed their 2007 show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. [13] Later that year, they returned to the Fringe with a new show, Funergy, performed at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar. [14]
In 2009, the group returned to the Fringe for a fourth consecutive year with a show called Pappy’s Fun Club’s World Record Attempt: 200 Sketches in an Hour. This show was performed in Pleasance One. [15] The show was universally praised, and received a five-star rating. [16]
In late 2009, Pappy's Fun Club announced that they were parting with one of their founding members, Brendan Dodds, and moving forward as a trio called Pappy's. The split was not entirely reciprocal, with Brendan writing on Twitter that he was asked to leave as "a business decision" [17] and Matthew stating in an interview that "the relationship we had with Brendan ran its course". [18]
In early 2010, Pappy's became the first British act to perform at the SF Sketchfest. [19] In August, they returned to the Fringe with a new show, All Business. Like the previous year, this show was performed in Pleasance One. [20] The following year, the troupe took a year off from the Fringe - however, Matthew returned with a solo show called AdventureParty. [21]
In 2012, Pappy's returned to the Fringe with a new show, Last Show Ever. This show received critical acclaim, receiving five-star reviews from The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Scotsman, The List, Chortle, and many others. [22] The show received a nomination for the 2012 Edinburgh Comedy Award. [23] [24] [25] Pappy's toured Last Show Ever around the UK in October and November, and in April 2013 performed it in a three-week run at the Soho Theatre. [26]
Pappy's continued to provide free audio and video during the pandemic via the medium of podcasts.
Pappy's currently produce three podcasts under the Pappy's Flatshare label: [2]
On 15 November 2007, Pappy's Fun Club appeared on the BBC Three comedy programme, Comedy Shuffle. [29]
Pappy's (and Pappy's Fun Club) have made several pilots including a self-titled radio pilot for BBC Radio 4, [30] broadcast on 12 May 2008, a self-titled Comedy Lab for Channel 4 television, broadcast on 28 August 2008, [31] and a second Comedy Lab called Mr and Mrs Hotty Hott Hot Show, broadcast on 30 October 2011. [32] None of these pilots were commissioned for further development.
Pappy's most notable television showpiece is that of Badults which aired on BBC Three in 2013 and 2014, [3] starring themselves along with Emer Kenny, Katherine Ryan, Jack Docherty and Cariad Lloyd.