Hello Sam, so where ya both from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
SAM : Tom and I are both from small autonomous communities based around the outer ring of the spaghetti junction. We didn’t meet until we both got through to the finals of a local Scout’s talent show. My talent was imitating the call of a barn owl, his a great grey. We formed a friendship several weeks later at a cub’s reunion meat ‘n’ greet.

Hello Tom, so when did you first realise you were, well, funny?
TOM : When I was performing to an end-of-year school assembly. My material consisted of one joke written my me, several recycled from ChuckleVision, and a burlesque dance Grandpa Simpson can be seen performing in hit computer game Virtual Springfield. Went down a storm, and my ideal audience remains Year 4 parents.

Where & when did you & Sam meet?
TOM : My first memory of Sam is the day I earned my bear-baiting badge from the Scouts. “Well done, sir!” he shouted. “Thank you, friend,” I replied. “Would you like to form a double act together and perform at the Edinburgh Fringe?” he asked. “What?” I replied.

What is it about performing live you love the most?
SAM : Performing is in my blood. Cut me and I bleed stage presence, O Negative. I have a rare blood type and a rare talent – the talent to want to cheer someone up if they’re having a bit of a rubbish day.

You are bringing your show Unrectifiable to the Fringe this August, can you tell us about it?
SAM : At its heart Unrectifiable is a show about a talking puppet. However, that element didn’t test well in preview so now it’s much more about the double act, and there’s a lot of interesting ground there as well.

What is the creative process behind writing Sam & Tom’s sketches
TOM : Suggestion-argument-compromise-frolic.

What other shows have you enjoyed this Fringe?
SAM : Mr Jolly – Fooling A Part (11:15pm, Blundabus) is a fascinating show. He’s a real-life jester and noise-art performer who represents for me the true spirit of the fringe – subversive, bewildering, and something you won’t see anywhere else this year.

Can you sum up your Fringe show in a single sentence?
TOM : The raucous and fun Sam & Tom play hide and seek, have an existensial crisis, and get five stars.

How are you finding performing at the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?
TOM : Pretty darn great, thanks! My problem is, no matter how many times I come up, I never see enough shows from a wide enough variety of voices and backgrounds, so I have to really knuckle down when I look through the brochure and address previous imbalances. As such, I’m only seeing improv this year, including during our show.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Sam & Tom?
SAM : Tom is taking a month out in September to go discover himself in Bali. He’s quite a spiritual guy and likes to de-toxify after the fringe. I just bought a lap-steel guitar from a charity shop, so I’ll probably be learning that.

You can catch Sam & Tom right now at the Fringe

Heroes @ Dragonfly : Aug 15-27 (18.10)