Top Talent Spotlight: Horrigan & Howell

Date Posted: 2022-08-25

Published by Theo Critchley

Welcome to the first installation of Top Talent Spotlight: we’ve set the stage, so gather round for a show of brilliant comedy.

In our Top Talent Spotlight series, we put the creators from our exclusive talent pool centre stage, getting into what we love about their work, regaling you with tales of their great comedic exploits past and yet to come, and connecting creator with audiences and brands.

And what exactly is Top Talent? It’s our scheme for empowering talented creators. It’s for those who are bursting with original material and raring to work with The Comedy Crowd’s partners on comedic commercial opportunities. The creators we feature in this series have comedy prowess to spare across a range of disciplines, from writing to animating, directing and performing.

In this article, we’re shining the spotlight on sketch comedy duo Liam Horrigan and Matthew Howell. We’d like to introduce you to the duo via their new comedy podcast, Horrigan & Howell’s Sketch Tonic.

And if you’re a comedy creator who is itching to find out how to join The Comedy Crowd’s Top Talent pool, then read on.

In this sketch we hear…

Pleasant chatter, a door tentatively creaking open.  “Excuse me, sorry, is this Southend Buddhist Yoga?” asks a polite voice.

“Oh, hello!” replies an equally friendly voice. “No, they’re next door. This is the Southend Death Penalty Advocacy Group.” And they are always looking for new members.

Horrigan & Howell’s Sketch Tonic is a new concoction brewed by sketch comedy duo Liam Horrigan and Matthew Howell, who have been writing together for the past five years. It is composed of six parts in total, more than fifty sketches, and one-hundred percent proof Britishness. The show sallied onto our radar quite recently and we have had a marvellous time listening to the series…

Beautifully balanced, delightfully dark, and sublimely silly.

Prick up your ears for wordplay, spoofery and downright mockery! Each episode is a seamless compilation of sketches which combine into a distinct flavour, and that flavour is British. Topics range from traditions which are ingrained in the national identity (for the worse), to instantaneously recognisable tropes (ditto). Sketch Tonic escalates matters to the ridiculous with the kind of mastery which is reminiscent of classic sketch comedies; no matter how bizarre, a sense of familiarity remains still, along with a constant niggling state of cringe-shame.

Sounds good to us.

Carefully- very carefully- remove your best electroacoustic transducers from their protective pouch and plug them into your device of choice. Now pop them on your noggin and enjoy audio bliss. Liam Horrigan, Matthew Howell, Georgia Bradley and Jo Hartland voice the various characters throughout the series, and they do so with stellar range and expression strong enough to visualise. 

Production quality is superb and delivered by Hear First Productions. What a treat to so crisply be able to hear the sound of a man enthusiastically pushing down his trousers for leech-related applications!

Just a drop.

Crack open a miniature and let this freshly fizzing sample of the fine tonic tickle your senses:

Yes, we daresay this is a spiffing new comedy podcast. Horrigan & Howell’s Sketch Tonic has hit the shelves and there’s plenty to go round. Let this article of endorsement be your prescription.

Horrigan & Howell’s Sketch Tonic is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean. And you can find the comedy duo on Twitter and Instagram.

The Sketch Tonic team are:

Creators: Liam Horrigan and Matthew Howell
Actors: Liam Horrigan, Matthew Howell, Georgia Bradley, Jo Hartland
Graphic Designer: Georgia Bradley
Production: Hear First Productions

The Comedy Crowd are always on the lookout for new talent to join our Top Talent pool. If you’re a creator with fresh, funny ideas and experience to boot, then we want to hear from you. Submit your application to be considered for Comedy Crowd Top Talent here – all for free.