The Noise Next Door

Edinburgh Fringe

July 31 to August 25

IMPROVISATIONAL comedy troupe The Noise Next Door have been putting on shows across the country for years.

Their unique brand of stand-up and short skits has made them a popular act to see and their run at Edinburgh Fringe is unlikely to be any different.

The Brighton-based group, made up of Tom Livingstone, Sam Pacelli, Robin Hatcher and Matt Grant, are performing not one but two shows this Fringe.

Jamie Walker spoke to Tom to find out what comedy lovers can expect from their hectic August schedule.

Hi, how much are you looking forward to returning to Edinburgh Fringe?

We love the Fringe.

We always look forward to going back.

This will be our 12th year in a row.

Edinburgh in August is the best place in the world.

With so much to do, do things always move that little faster the closer August gets?

It feels like the year has nitro boosters through June and July.

With all the prep and promo and planning that comes with heading to the festival as an act there never quite feels like there is enough time to do it all.

As well as your classic Comedy Lock-In show you are bringing a new routine to Fringe. Tell us about it? What can people expect?

Our new show is The Noise Next Door’s Really, Really Good Afternoon Show… Through Time - it’s quite a mouthful.

It’s an afternoon comedy extravaganza that’s fun for literally everyone.

We’ll be turning our improvised antics to the world of time travel as the audience gets to decide when, not where, we go next.

Whether you’ve got children or you just like your comedy on the clean side then you will love this show.

If you like your comedy a little naughtier come to the Lock-In. Better yet, come to both.

How much time do you have to write new material with the amount of touring shows you already do?

We do a lot of our writing on the road these days.

We spend hours and hours in a car and it becomes our portable writing room in the lead up to Edinburgh.

We laugh, organise and argue like always, just at 70mph.

And what possessed you to perform two shows across Fringe when most people exhaust themselves just doing one?

Only two? We do at least one extra show a day.

At last year’s Fringe we once did eight shows in one day.

There’s always something amazing going on and we want to be part of it.

Would you say the shows cater to different audiences?

Very much so.

“Through Time” is for families and people who like their comedy cleaner.

The Comedy Lock-In is very much an adult show.

How rigorously will you have to plan your days – doing a show at 3pm and then 11pm as well?

Having regular shows in the same venues every day for a month is a very welcome bit of stability compared to our usual life on the road.

It means we can do incredible things like eat at meal times and go to the gym in daylight hours. It’s amazing.

Will you actually sleep at all over the month?

We didn’t realise this was an option.

Do people sleep during August?

Why would you encourage people to check out either one or both of your shows?

Both shows are going to be really funny.

And if you enjoy one you will almost certainly enjoy the other.

If you could recommend another act that people should go and see this Fringe, that’s not yourselves, who would it be and why?

There are four of us so I had to ask all the other members of the group for their opinions too.

We’d recommend checking out stand-ups Laura Lexx and Tom Houghton, nerd comedy duo MARVELus and an amazing puppet show called Boulder.

The Noise Next Door perform “Through Time” at Edinburgh’s Gilded Balloon from July 31 to August 25.

They also perform their Comedy Lock-In at the Pleasance Courtyard from July 31 to August 25.