Sketch group The Beta Males recently announced that they were quitting live sketch comedy. Along with their bombshell announcement there was a passing remark that maybe the multi-person genre was not financially viable. Tell that to Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez, whose popularity has grown dramatically, or should that be comically, over the last five years. Having started out as a generic sketchy double act Max and Ivan have developed into a skilful, inventive, high energy telepathic team who play around with the "broken comedy" template just to the right degree. Look elsewhere for pretentious post-modernism. Their last show, The End, picked up an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination for its fictional portrayal of a town facing nuclear destruction. This year they promise all-new characters - themselves. The blurb for Our Story, directed by Pappy’s Tom Parry, says it is a true story. Is it? You’ll have to buy a ticket to find out. We doubt if you will be disappointed even if it is a big fat pack of fibs.

Max & Ivan play the Battersea Barge tonight with James Farmer, info here and are at the Pleasance Dome from Aug 3 - 28, tickets here.