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
PseudonymPappy's Fun Club (2004-2009)
MediumTelevision, theatre, radio
NationalityBritish
Years active2004–present
GenresSketch comedy
MembersBen Clark
Matthew Crosby
Tom Parry
Former membersBrendan Dodds
Websitepappyscomedy.com

History edit

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]

Podcasts edit

Pappy's currently produce three podcasts under the Pappy's Flatshare label:[2]

  • Flatshare Slamdown is a live panel show set in their shared flat, with Matthew Crosby as the landlord and host.[27] In 2012 Flatshare Slamdown won the Loaded LAFTA award for Funniest Podcast.[28]
  • Beef Brothers Cold Cuts is a longer form of the Beef Brothers round of Flatshare Slamdown, in which Pappy's and a guest comedian attempt to solve listeners' personal problems, or "beefs".
  • House Meeting feature Pappy's having an unscripted chat; the format is a continuation of their former podcast Bangers and Mash, which was iTunes Top New Comedy Podcast in 2011.

Television and radio edit

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.

References edit

  1. ^ "BBC Three announce commission of new sitcom, The Secret Dude Society". BBC Media Centre. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Pappy's Flatshare on acast". acast. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "BBC Three - Badults". BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. ^ Burgess, Marissa (22 July 2008). "Daddy fool - Pappy's Fun Club". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  5. ^ O'Hara, Mary (28 June 2012). "Hold onto your hat for a night of solo laughter..." Canterbury Times. Canterbury. Archived from the original on 5 July 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  6. ^ "FRINGE REVIEW: Pappy's Fun Club". The Void. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Chortle Awards nominations 2007". Chortle.co.uk. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  8. ^ Maxwell, Dominic (21 August 2007). "Pappy's Fun Club". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 13 September 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  9. ^ Dessau, Bruce (23 August 2007). "A madcap hour of fun that could be award bound". London Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  10. ^ Logan, Brian (6 November 2007). "Pappy's Fun Club". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Nominees and Winners". Edinburgh Comedy Award. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Chortle Awards". Chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  13. ^ Slattery, Annette (11 March 2008). "Pappy's Fun Club". Australian Comedy Review. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  14. ^ Hall, Julian (14 August 2008). "Pappy's Fun Club: Funergy, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  15. ^ Sulaiman, Yasmin (11 August 2009). "Sketch favourites achieve cohesion through chaos". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  16. ^ Brady, Fern (23 August 2008). "Pappy's Fun Club's World Record Attempt: 200 Sketches in an Hour". Fest. Edinburgh. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  17. ^ "And then there were three..." Chortle.co.uk. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  18. ^ Nangle, Victoria (14 December 2007). "Interview with Matthew Crosby from Pappy's". latest 7. Brighton. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  19. ^ Bromley, Patrick (22 August 2012). "2010 SF Sketchfest - Full Schedule". About.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  20. ^ Monahan, Mark (24 October 2010). "Edinburgh Festival 2010: Pappy's, Pleasance One; Idiots of Ants, Pleasance Two". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  21. ^ Donaldson, Brian (8 August 2011). "A safe and hilarious haven for geeks and nerds". The List. Edinburgh. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Pappy's: Last Show Ever". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  23. ^ Mann, Andrea (23 August 2012). "Edinburgh Fringe: Awards Fever". The Huffington Post UK. London. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  24. ^ Logan, Brian (22 August 2012). "Revealed: six acts in the running for 2012 Edinburgh comedy award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  25. ^ Monahan, Mark (22 August 2012). "Edinburgh Festival 2012: Foster's Comedy Awards - who is the funniest of them all?". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  26. ^ "Pappy's: Last Show Ever". Soho Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  27. ^ "Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  28. ^ "Tim Vine wins funniest joke award at Loaded Laftas". BBC News. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  29. ^ "Comedy Shuffle: Series 2, Episode 1". BBC. 18 November 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  30. ^ "Happy Mondays: Pappy's Fun Club". BBC. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  31. ^ "Pappy's Fun Club". British Comedy Guide. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  32. ^ "Mr & Mrs Hotty Hott Hot Show". British Comedy Guide. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2012.

External links edit