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Meet the Irish comedy trio Foil Arms and Hog
The complicity reigns between Sean Finegan, Sean Flanagan and Conor McKenna, the three members of the comedy trio known as Foil Arms and Hog. Nine years ago, they posted their very first YouTube sketch and since then they've just been accumulating likes and views. It is in their studio in Dublin that these “it-boys” of Irish comedy imagine all their videos and prepare their shows. They confided in us before coming to London on April 4th.

How did your adventure together begin?

We met at the theatre club of our university, working on serious plays, while trying to keep a certain comic twist. Then we started going around the comedy clubs in Ireland, starting with 7-minute sketches, then 10-minute sketches, and then gradually we started doing one-hour shows.

Would you describe your sense of humour as particularly Irish?

Not especially (laughs)! That said, there are strong accents, a certain irreverence and a way of letting off steam that are undoubtedly Irish. But these are distinctly human characteristics and jokes before being Irish. We don't necessarily try to spread Irish humour, it happens naturally!

Do you write scripts for your videos?

Scenarios are at the heart of our videos! Usually the day starts with one of us coming into the office with an idea and the other two answering “ah but it sucks!”. Then we sit down, think and build a plan around that initial idea (laughs).

You seem to be a very pretty tight crew, what's it like working with friends?

People don't believe us, but we've honestly never had an argument. We've already had girlfriends who couldn't believe we got along so well! It's a brotherly relationship rather than a friendly one, we spend so much time together.

Do you ever do solo shows?

When we started, we sometimes did solo projects, but we soon realised that there really wasn't the same buzz. We only received a third of the reaction from the audience and there was not the same interaction at all. So it was very easy to stop the solo stuff and fully commit to working in a group.

So you want to get your audience together and be careful not to offend anyone?

We don't want to divide our audience, which would be the case if we were promoting political messages. We don't want to enrage or even distract people from what is supposed to be a relaxing and fun time. As comedians we also find that we have no legitimacy to lecture!

Is there anything you can't laugh about?

We don't have a list of taboo subjects, we take our inspiration from anything we find funny. Then there are subjects that are simply not funny, that you can't make fun of as a human being. As a comedian it takes a lot more work to perfect this art of mocking both sides, because it's easy to attack one side.

Is your video named “Brexit Divorce” anti-Brexit?

It's funny because we didn't consider it an anti-Brexit video at all: there are pro-Brexit people who thought the video was fantastic and saw it as a tribute to their campaign! We tried to convey a balanced point of view, but very often people interpret the humour in their own way. Ireland benefits from an external point of view, not being part of the UK, so it's easier to make fun of it with this hindsight!

So taking a political stand in your videos doesn't interest you?

Usually, we do not express ourselves politically, but we can express ourselves socially, taking pleasure in commenting on and observing certain situations. For example, we joke that you absolutely have to baptise your child to get a place in schools here. We don't make fun of the principle of baptism but of the situation: non-religious people have their children baptized with such hysteria!

Who are your comic inspirations?

Boris Johnson (laughs)! We like the Marx Brothers, Billy Connoly and comedians like Jim Carrey or Lee Evans who have great facial expressions, they are experts at making faces!

Does the French stand up speak to you?

We are particularly inspired by the French tradition of clown shows. We took part in a clown workshop with Doctor Brown, who studied in Philippe Gaulier's clown school. “Human” clowns fascinate us more than the “clichéd” red-nosed clowns, because they really have a connection with the spectator.

Rumours are circulating, suggesting that you are currently preparing a film?

We thought that our videos were too short so we wanted to make a film! We can't say much more because we haven't started filming yet. For the moment we're going on tour and we're writing a new show to play at the Edinburgh festival in August.

Do you use the same equipment on stage as for your videos?

Not really! We don't use the same tone or the same sense of humour, in fact the live show has to be much funnier! If a person watches a video from home and only laughs three times in one minute it's fine. If they only laugh three times live, however, it's really not great. When people come to see the show there is more interaction, more engaging characters and a much better story.

Estelle Nilsson-Julien, "Rencontre avec le trio de comédie Irlandais Foil Arms and Hog", ICI Londres, 03.01.2019

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