McNeil and Pamphilon
"Just when it looked like the sketch show might be eating itself to a
slow, agonising death...along comes Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon to
stick a hot poker into its dying carcass and kickstart the whole
shebang." THE LIST
**** THE LIST / **** THREE WEEKS / **** BROADWAY BABY / **** FRESH AIR
McNeil and Pamphilon's debut Edinburgh show played to sell-out
audiences at the Pleasance Dome in 2010, and received critical acclaim
for their "high standard of innovation and comic writing" (The List)
and "outstanding comic abilities" (Broadway Baby). "This hugely
enjoyable duo" (Three Weeks) currently host a residency at The Albany
in London which has been recommended by both Spoonfed and London Is
Funny, and chosen as Critic's Choice in Time Out.
COMEDY CLUBS PLAYED INCLUDE:
Jongleurs - Battersea
Pleasance - Islington and Edinburgh (Dome and Courtyard)
Gilded Balloon - Edinburgh (150+)
Leicester Square Theatre - Main space (200+) and basement
Various sketch comedy venues: Lowdown at the Albany. The Hen and
Chickens, Stockwell Arms, Bar Kick, Laughing Horse, Amused Moose etc
TV/OTHER WORK:
You may have seen one or the other of them in (amongst other things):
- COMEDY CUTS, Series 2 and 3, ITV
- THE SUNDAY NIGHT PROJECT (with Simon Pegg), CHANNEL 4
- Brendon Burns' 2007 if.comedy Award-Winning show
- and various 'normal' tv stuff like Holby City (BBC) and Stockwell (ITV).
Steve replaced Rik Mayall at short notice to play the lead role of
Skinner in The Peter Hall Company production of "Balmoral" and Sam
played the male lead in the short comedy, "Can We Talk?", which won an
Honourable Mention Award at the Sundance Film Festival. They both
performed in Phil Nichol's Comedians Theatre Company's "Itch: A
Scratch Event" at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
AWARDS:
FINALISTS: 2011 'Hackney Empire' New Act of the Year Competition
2009 Leicester Square Theatre Sitcom Trials - Winners, Grand Final
2010 So You Think You're Funny Semi-Finalists
PRESS:
"It?s sketch comedy with a very dark edge...a mix of the kind of
friendly, whimsical humour beloved of many an Oxbridge sketch troupe
and the PC-skirting risk addiction associated with standups like
Brendon Burns." FEST
The characters in each skit combine well in a succession of cleverly
constructed sketches. All the way through, full use is made of the
actors' outstanding comic abilities. It starts well and builds
strongly so, despite the title, there's no danger in seeing this show
- you're guaranteed an hour of teatime laughter." BROADWAY BABY
"[They] have a subtle comic chemistry flowing between them that many
acts take several Fringes to achieve. The sketches themselves maintain
an unusually high standard of innovation and comic writing. The
opening segment of a governmental underling stumbling into a cabinet
office meeting which is a front for assassination sets the tone
starkly from the off while glorious surrealist fancies take flight as
the hour draws in." THE LIST
They tackle a number of taboo topics - Jesus, terrorism, rape, race -
but always in a disarmingly good-natured way. Their jokes about form
(as in the catchy ditty 'We're Writing a Comedy Song') are clever
whilst remaining accessible. It's a mark of confidence not to crave
the constant validation of laugh after laugh, and it is in the
longer-drawn out sketches, such as the game of 'Name that Film', that
this hugely enjoyable duo reveal their comedic maturity. THREE WEEKS
