Gary has a good war and lives to tell tale

THOUGH currently wowing Fringe audiences in a new sketch show alongside comedy pal Will Andrews, Greg McHugh is best known as Sergeant Gary McLintoch, star of the recently televised hit mockumentary, Gary's War.

In a lisping accent, Gary, the campest soldier in the barracks, had just returned from Iraq and was only too happy to spout opinions as he showed a camera crew round the rough Edinburgh housing scheme where he grew up.

With its political theme, Gary's War might have attracted controversy in the wrong hands, but in truth the spoof was hilarious.

But while this creation made McHugh a star, it's clear he'd much rather talk about his current Fringe outing in Will & Greg: A Sketch Show.

The duo's show features a cast of characters ranging from the world's most insensitive copper to the ultra-tanned Bobby Mason, and a creepy women's tennis coach who thinks a good grunt and a regular waxing are all a player needs to make it to the top.

Already a Fringe hit with several five-star reviews, the pair – who won the 2007 Scottish BAFTA for Best Comedy with their Channel 4 Comedy Lab Blowout – are delighted with the response the show has received, especially since it was a rush for them putting it all together.

"Yeah, so far so good," smiles 28-year-old McHugh, who was brought up in Morningside and went to St Thomas Aquinas High School, before studying business at Stirling University.

"We didn't have a lot of time to get the show together because we were busy filming a television show, so we finished that on July 22 and then we had to go straight to the Fringe – so, yeah, it was a bit rushed.

"It's worked out well, though," he continues. "We're now selling out.

That's always your goal. That's what we have achieved. Reviews help, but I think word-of-mouth has spread a lot, because our reviews came in a little later than a few other people's did."

So what does the new show consist of? "It's just fast-paced sketches, basically," he explains. "We don't have many long set-pieces or drawn-out things, so basically we cram in as many sketches as we can into an hour and don't give anyone time to get bored.

"We don't have any scene changes, or any costume changes, and any props we use are on stage with us – it's literally one sketch, one sketch, one sketch.

"I think we squeeze in about 27 sketches in total. It's very rapid-fire, so hopefully people like the fact the momentum keeps going, and that we don't let the energy drop," he adds.

Many of the characters will be popping up on our television screens later this month when Channel 4 broadcasts The Incredible Will & Greg.
"This is a one-off show for Channel 4, but we're hoping that it will go to series," he says. "It's so competitive, though. There's so many people who could get shows, more experienced people.

"But hopefully they are going to take a chance, push through the next generation of comics, which will hopefully include us," he adds.

The future looks bright for the comedy pairing of Will and Greg – but will they ever reprise their biggest hit, Gary: Tank Commander?

"Oh yes," reveals McHugh. "The war is supposedly finished but I don't see that really settling down for a good few years. And even when it does, I think there will still be a need for people to comment on what's gone on.

"I've got very strong views on the war – I think it's a disgrace – and Gary's hopefully going to challenge people to not forget about it. So, yeah, I think there will be a role for Gary ongoing.

"I've been commissioned to write a sitcom about it as well, so I'm going to start that in October, and then we'll pitch it to Channel 4."

Will & Greg: A Sketch Show, Pleasance Courtyard, The Pleasance, until Sunday, 3.30pm, £9 (£7.50), 0131-226 0000