A YOUNG comedy double act who have performed in New York and written for the BBC are to do their first home show in two years.

James Bishop, 24, of Faringdon Road, Abingdon, and Chris Douch, 24, of Charlton Village Road, Wantage, will be bringing their anarchic comedy to this weekend’s Truck Festival at Hill Farm, Steventon.

They met while working at WH Smith in Oxford six years ago and discovered they both wrote comedy.

In 2008, they landed an hour-long show at the UCB Theatre, in New York, where the likes of Robin Williams, Chevy Chase and Jack Black have performed.

They returned to New York the following year, and now write sketches for two BBC television comedies – The Impressions Show, starring John Culshaw, and pilots for The Jason Lewis Experience.

The pair also upload their comedy online at myspace.

Mr Bishop, a former Abingdon School pupil, said their act had developed a lot since they last appeared at Truck in 2008.

He said: “Last time, we had a cast of five and mostly did sketches with limited audience participation. Now it’s a lot less written, a lot more ad-libbed, and with more audience involvement.

“We had a really good reaction in 2008, and a lot of our friends who hadn’t seen us before finally got to see that we really are quite funny.

“You can be funny down the pub with your mates, but when you say you’re going to try to do it for a career, all your friends become cynical.”

Mr Douch, who went to King Alfred’s College, in Wantage, said: “When we do live gigs, we never know exactly what’s going to happen, and we have never done two shows the same.

“Growing up in this area, we both used to go to Truck before we ever appeared there, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

  • See The Guide in tomorrow's Oxford Mail for a Truck Festival preview.