Sketch comedy is as fashionable as ever, meaning there an ever-growing number of rather fine up-and-coming sketch comedy groups out there. But one of our favourites is the Penny Dreadfuls, not least because they specialise in sketch comedy on a Victorian theme, something we never knew our lives needed until we first saw their show Aeneas Faversham at the Edinburgh Festival. Such was the all round excitement among the ThreeWeeks team for these guys that last August we presented them with a ThreeWeeks Editors’ Award. With much critical acclaim and a BBC 7 series under their belts, not to mention that award, they are now bringing their show to the Brighton Fringe. We took them out to see the city’s sights and threw some questions in their direction while we had their attention…

ThreeWeeks: Tell us the Penny Dreadfuls story. How did you guys start working together?

Penny Dreadfuls: We all graduated from Edinburgh University at the same time, and realised that our slightly shoddy degrees meant we were only qualified to work as purveyors of the Victorian age. Desperate to avoid real work, we settled on this.

TW: So this Victorian theme; what do you find so fascinating about this period?

PD: It is the last period in British history where people genuinely, intrinsically believed that absolutely anything was possible. If you wanted to build a railway to the moon, everyone would back you to the hilt. People believed in ghosts, and tried to build steam-powered devices to measure them. Brilliant.

TW: Would you have preferred to have lived in the Victorian era?

PD: In some ways, yes. The clothes were way cooler, men stood up when ladies walked into a room and you could get from Goring-and-Streatley to London Paddington for tuppence. On the other hand, there was a distinct lack of Halo 3. So on reflection we’re quite happy where we are.

TW: What do you think the Victorians would have made of your show?

PD: Victorian entertainment tended to be a little punchier than our show. Although next year we are planning to up the bear-baiting and surgery quotient, so they should like that.

TW: How do you go about writing a new show?

PD: We usually sit down together around a table with bountiful supplies of biscuits, pencils and magazines. Humphrey gets out his laptop and starts playing Football Manager. We then take turns remembering a sketch we may have seen about a year ago by someone. We’ll transcribe it from memory as best we can. Then the magic really starts to happen when we go through it and change all the nouns. It’s a challenging process that can yield some truly pitiful material that we’re usually sensible enough never to use in a show.

TW: You recently had a show on BBC 7; how does writing and performing for the radio compare with doing stuff on stage?

PD: We love writing for the radio. Everything you create for the radio exists solely in the listeners’ imagination, so there’s endless fun to be had there. Of course you can’t fall back on pulling stupid faces, falling off a chair or any of the other comedy staples that get you out of a tight corner. But there’s where the challenge lies.

TW: Sketch comedy seems to have had a revival in recent years. Would you agree and, if so, why do you think that is?

PD: We’ve heard this said by a few people, but we can’t see where it’s from. Perhaps we’ve been through a period where sketch troupes became creative at disguising their format; League of Gentlemen’s scenes from Royston Vasey or We Are Klang merging their sketches seamlessly. Naming just some of the most famous shows from the last 15 years; The Fast Show, League of Gentlemen, Little Britain; shows that sketch comedy has been consistently successful on stage, radio and on television, without any noticeable hiatus. We don’t think there’s been a revival because we don’t think it ever went away.

TW: What other sketch comedy groups past or present do you most admire?

PD: From the past; Monty Python, Fry & Laurie and everything by Pete and Dud. Our favourite sketch troupes on the circuit right now are Pappy’s Fun Club, Cowards, and Two Episodes of M.A.S.H.

TW: This is your first time at the Brighton Fringe. Why have you decided to perform here this year, and what are you expecting it to be like?

PD: We came to the Pavilion Theatre in September for the Comedy Festival and had a lovely time, so we thought we could come back when the weather was a bit better for the Fringe. We expect it to be totally rocking.

TW: Both of Brighton’s piers are Victorian, will you find a way to get them in the show?

PD: We have a large team in place equipped with chainsaws and instructed to hack down the nearest pier into manageable pieces, cart them across the beach and into the Joogleberry, where we’ll rebuild the pier on stage and perform on it. The audience can then play on the slot machines during the show to maintain the notable pier atmosphere.

TW: What next? What have you got planned for Edinburgh and beyond.

PD: We’re writing a second series of The Brothers Faversham for BBC 7 at the moment, which will be broadcast in the Autumn. And of course we’re putting the finishing touches to our third Edinburgh Festival show also called Aeneas Faversham Forever which we’re performing at the Pleasance Courtyard between the 31 July and the 25 August.

TW: Describe your show in three words.

PD: Ludicrous. Victoriana. Spectacular!

Aeneas Faversham Presents, Joogleberry, 9 May, 8:15pm (9:15pm), £9.00 (£7.00), fpp15, & Udder Place, 23 May, 8:15pm (9:15pm), £12 (£10), fpp15.

Penny Dreadfuls were presented with a ThreeWeeks Editors’ Award at Edinburgh Festival 2007.