Alone, they are acclaimed and award-hogging entertainment colossi. Together, they are the hottest double-act in the UK. I am describing – of course – beloved crooners Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, but the words might, at a stretch, be applied to comedians Adam Riches and John Kearns. That parallel is part of what has drawn the latter twosome to make this festive season’s most unlikely stage show, wherein the fringe favourites manifest onstage in character (sort of) as those titans of the mainstream, Ball and Boe.
“These guys sell out arenas,” says Kearns. “They have, as we speak, the No 1 album in the UK.” Kearns delighted Taskmaster audiences, and is the only comic to win best newcomer and best show in successive years at the Edinburgh fringe. Riches is an ex-Edinburgh champ too. But arenas have proved resistant to their charms. Meanwhile, reports Kearns with dismay, Ball and Boe “were interviewed on Radio 2 last week, and described as the new Morecambe and Wise.”
