Sammy J & Randy have permeated barriers to exemplify how puppet and man can finally become one. They have been Melbourne International Comedy Festival favourites since their first collaboration in 2008 where they were nominated for a Barry Award, given to the ‘Most Outstanding Comedy Act’. Ever since, the pair has been delivering happiness all over the world. Sammy J & Randy left me feeling fuzzy inside, like when Nana gave you a hot cup of Milo after a rainy day. I sat down with Sammy, and delightfully crude purple puppet, Randy, to discuss their upcoming show Sammy J & Randy Land.

F: Hello to both man and puppet, thanks for joining us! I understand you two met at a strip club. How has your friendship progressed since that fateful evening? Do you both enjoy working together?

S: I like to think of our friendship as a coconut tree on a deserted island. You know that if you take the time to climb it there’s life-giving sustenance held within its lofty branches, but it’s more likely that you’ll just sit underneath it until a coconut lands on your head.

R: I think of it more as a sexual health checkup. You know you should probably commit to it, but you’re terrified of the potential outcome.

F: Your show at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival is called ‘Sammy J & Randy Land’, what can you tell me about the show?

R: We rented an underground bunker in Bucharest through Airbnb and spent three months locked away with a typewriter, eating canned lima beans and trying to make each other laugh.

S: When we emerged, bearded and bedraggled in a haze of lima stench, we held in our hands the screenplay for Dumb and Dumber 2. We sold it the rights to the Farrelly Brothers and used the proceeds to build Sammy J and Randy Land.

F: What do you hope to give people who come to your show?

S: An unforgettable night of non-stop laughs and unbridled merriment.

R: Syphilis.

?What’s the most annoying trait on stage you both individually harbour?

R: Sammy does this thing where he remembers his lines and expects me to do the same.

S: Randy often panics mid-scene and we have to stop the show while I sing him a medley of Phil Collins songs until he is prepared to recommence.

How would you sell your show to a bunch of students?

S: I’d gather them in a room and calmly explain to them the scientifically proven benefits of extra curricular activities during periods of intense study, and gently coerce them into purchasing tickets to our show using a series of bar graphs and pie charts proving my hypothesis that all work and no play may result in serious long term psychological damage.

R: I’d tell them there’s free booze.

Sammy J and Randy Land is playing at the Athenaeum Theatre from March 29. Tickets available here.