Comedy just doesn’t come to Edinburgh in August, y’know, for Rick Molland & Sully O’Sullivan do a grand job of making people laugh every night of the week in the Scottish capital through their ‘Monkey Barrel Comedy.’
The Mumble managed to catch up with them or a wee chit-chat…

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Hello Sully, so where are guys from & where ya both at, geographically speaking?
SULLY : Rick is originally from the North of England but is based in Scotland, I’m originally from the South of the World but am based in the North of England, don’t worry, we find it confusing as well.

Hello Rick, so when did you first realise you were, well, funny?
RICK : I could always make people laugh without much effort in school and work. But there’s a million miles between that and doing it on stage. It took me a while to find the funny on stage, but years of compering a gig called Heresy, which was a small room with hardly any punters ever massively instrumental in allowing me to do what I do when performing. Comedian’s have different ways of being funny, some are story tellers, some are gag-smiths, some are just annoying Kiwi pricks with very questionable views on Politics and the Jews! My skill was that I always took the piss quite well and was very quick off the mark, Compering Heresy allowed me to practice in an environment where nothing really mattered. Gigging to 100 people for the most part is pretty easy, it’s when you’re gigging to 6 punters that things get interesting!

Why stand-up comedy?
SULLY : My last ‘proper job’ was in legal publishing, mainly digital but also hard cover, I worked in customer support, it was all as boring as it sounds, that’ll motivate anyone to try something completely different.

What is it about performing live that you love the most?
RICK : I don’t really buy into the jaded stand-up schtick that some comics portray. I love doing what I do. I go to gigs, and have fun with people who for the most part laugh and have a good night out. I admit that I tread the line with audiences from time to time. I like to be just on the edge of being wrong, so I do get away with saying some borderline stuff to people, but those are my favourite reactions. Nothing beats the moment where an audience knows they shouldn’t be laughing but are laughing anyway.

Upon which life-experiences do you draw your own comedy?
SULLY : The big pictures, the things that affect us all whether we like it or not, hence: Another Political Comedy Show.

You’ve been washed up on a desert island with a solar-powered DVD player & three films. Which would they be?
RICK : OldBoy (The Original Version), The West Wing Box Set and Deep Throat.

How much time do you spend outwith the comedy world in the company of Mister Rick Molland, or is it just always a monkey barrel of laughs with you two?
SULLY : We both perform in ‘clubs’ most of the year, Rick as resident host at Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh and myself all over the UK and occasionally abroad, but when the festivals roll round the double act comes calling.

Can you describe the creative process between you & Sully
RICK : Tense.

You are bringing ‘Another Political Comedy Show’ to the Fringe this August, can you tell us about it?
SULLY : We tried to write a political comedy show together, we failed, we just don’t agree, it turns out Rick’s an arsehole. So now it’s me versus him, my views versus his, at 17:45 every day for a month.

Can you sum up your show in a single sentence?
RICK : No. We are living in the age of Trump Tweeting, Brexit Lies, Fake News, Russian Hackers, and yet more Trump Tweeting, where people pick a news source like they choose their religion. It seemed to us that the common thread on all these topics was simply Freedom of Speech. We just happen to have very different opinions on the topic of Freedom of Speech.

You are also running the Scottish Comedy Festival at the Fringe – over 20 acts worth – what’s the idea behind this?
RICK : The Scottish Comedy Festival is a way to shine a light on the amazing acts who contribute to the Scottish Comedy Scene all year round. We’ve got a phenomenal line-up of some of the best acts Scotland has to offer.

How do you find performing at the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?
SULLY : I’m performing in 3 shows a day ‘Freestyle Comedy’, ‘Another Political Comedy Show’ and ‘AAA Stand-Up’ at Gilded Balloon. I’ll be performing for 27 days straight. By the end of it I expect to be exhausted, sick of the taste of takeaway food, have no clean clothes, yet there’s something about the fringe that keeps myself and thousands of other acts coming back.

You can catch ‘Another Political Comedy Show’ at the Fringe

August 4-27 @ The Beehive Inn (17.45)