Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
Hello reader! We are Brian and Nick, but our sketch comedy name is BriTANicK which is embarrassing because it doesn't really make sense. We came up with it when we were 19 and now it's too late to change it. We met as kids, went to NYU together, and have now written for television, acted in films, and consistently been performing live together for 15 years. Every sketch comedy group we knew when we started is dead, but we are hanging on for dear life.
How would you describe your show?
This show is a collection of sketches, old favourites and brand-new oddities, all woven into something ridiculous and personal. It’s hyper-paced, meticulously rehearsed, genre-crossing, and utterly exhausting to perform. If you come to the show, please bring us hot tea and/or a masseuse.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
We’ve always wanted to perform internationally, and to do so in such an iconic space, full of international artists, as theatre feels like it’s exploding back to life on the other side of the pandemic… it was a no brainer.
What differentiates it from other festivals?
This is our first festival, so we have little to no idea. But probably the amount of haggis we’re going to drunkenly eat at 1am.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
We were both into comedy as kids, performing in school plays and at summer camp together. Once we saw people like Monty Python, we realised we could grow up and continue being silly, which just seemed far better than the normal jobs we were told adults should have. Our inspirations have ranged from all over, from the farce of I Love Lucy, to the self-deprecation of David Sedaris, to the cringe of The Office, to the non-humour of Andy Kaufman. We try to pull from everything.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
Our parents probably had a lot to do with it. Neither of us were ever pushed to go into any specific career. Our parents gave us free reign to find this passion and never dissuaded us in any way, even when we wanted to go to an expensive art college to learn to play pretend. It was either great parenting or extremely misguided. Time will tell.
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
Brian: I remember being in first grade, watching a bunch of third graders put on a play at my school about Christopher Columbus, and just thinking “Where’s the passion?! They’re not even TRYING! Let me get up there!”
Nick: In preschool, I told a joke and everybody in the class laughed, and it was so overwhelming I immediately burst into tears. I would later become addicted to this feeling.
If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
Brian: If I had to choose something not in entertainment at all, I’d probably go into mental or physical rehabilitation. My parents are therapists, and I think I caught a fleck of that.
Nick: I would love to be a carpenter. Because when you're writing a script you never know when you're done, and in carpentry you know you're done because look, that pile of wood is now a table.
Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now?
To be honest, not really. We had already figured out our writing rhythm long before Covid, and it stayed pretty intact even while over Zoom. The biggest change was we were unable to perform live for 2 years, so we now approach live shows with extreme gratitude and a little bit of fear, knowing it could all go away in an instant.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
Brian: We’re back, right? Hello? Right?
Nick: Please, let covid be over.
Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture'?
We have a very strong opinion on this, thank you for asking. We fervently believe that (connection lost) and we are proud to be on the right side of history!
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
Brian: I’d just stick with Nick. I can’t spend another ten years developing a shorthand and figuring out how to argue with Frida Kahlo or Stanley Kubrick.
Nick: Frida Kahlo.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
Us giving advice on this would be like an 8-year-old giving a 5-year-old advice on how to be a teenager.
When and where can people see your show?
Assembly George Square! The Box! 7:45 every night!
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
Our YouTube Channel, BriTANicK, is the best way to see any and everything we’ve done. On socials, Brian is @bjmcelhaney and Nick is @nickkocher. But come on… do something better with your life than watching us desperately post for your attention.
BriTANicK is performing at Assembly George Square (The Box), 7.45pm, 3-28 August (not 17). For tickets and more information visit https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/britanick
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