Frisky & Mannish

Corcoran and Jones have written and produced eight Frisky & Mannish shows to date, all of which have toured internationally, and a Christmas-themed show that has been performed at the West End’s Lyric Theatre and Edinburgh's Hogmanay.[7][10][13] They have played many London venues, including Shepherd's Bush Empire,[14] Noël Coward Theatre,[15] Soho Theatre,[16] Southbank Centre,[17] The Forum,[18] Bloomsbury Theatre,[19] and KOKO.[20] In Australia, they have presented shows at Sydney Opera House and Sydney Cabaret Festival,[7][21] Adelaide Cabaret Festival and Adelaide Fringe,[22][23] Melbourne International Comedy Festival,[24] and Fringe World in Perth.[25] They have also toured to Wellington and Auckland,[26][27] Dublin,[28] Berlin,[16] Singapore,[1] Hong Kong,[29] and New York City's The Slipper Room.[16]

Their first full-length show, School of Pop (2009), a series of "educational" lessons developed during their monthly residency at Leicester Square Theatre,[7] was described as "the undisputed hit of the Edinburgh Fringe,"[30] garnering thirteen five-star reviews from publications such as Chortle, Edinburgh Evening News, The Herald and Time Out.[31] Their send-up of Noël Coward and Lily Allen was particularly praised.[8][32][33] Kate Nash, whose song "Foundations" they combined with Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights", attended one of their performances.[34] A sequel entitled The College Years (2010), based around a central thesis of "collision theory,"[35] premièred at Latitude Festival,[36] and placed second (out of 2453 productions)[37] on Edinburgh Festival Guide's list of top-rated shows.[38] Pop Centre Plus (2011), the final instalment in their "Pop Education" trilogy, was launched at the udderBELLY Festival on South Bank,[34] structured as a careers advice facility.[28] In 2012 they introduced two new shows, Extra-Curricular Activities,[39] and a black comedy called 27 Club, which delved into the eponymous cultural phenomenon.[40] Just Too Much (2014) continued this darker theme, concerning itself with meltdowns in pop.[41] In 2015, inspired by the reaction to their viral short film protesting comments made by Gary Barlow on The X Factor,"[42][43] they created a variety show, Cabariot, featuring guest acts and original songs tackling a range of social issues.[44] After a short hiatus, the pair returned with a tenth anniversary show, PopLab (2019), comprising a series of scientific experiments.[45]

In March 2011, Scott Mills featured a number of Frisky & Mannish songs on BBC Radio 1, which led to several live interviews and performances on the programme.[5][46] They also wrote and recorded "Perfect Christmas Single" (with Mills and co-host Chris Stark) for a Radio 1 Stories documentary in December 2012; the track was made available on the channel's website and downloaded over 170,000 times.[47][48] Other radio appearances have included BBC Radio 2 (Jo Whiley),[6] BBC Radio 3 (The Verb),[49] BBC Radio 4 (Sketchorama),[50] BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne),[51] and BBC Radio Scotland (MacAulay and Co).[52]

In August 2011, Corcoran and Jones were featured on BBC Two's The Culture Show, performing a comic song about the art of making comic songs.[3] They have also appeared on children's programme Dick and Dom's Funny Business (BBC Two) and variety show Live at the Fringe (BBC3).[4][53]

On the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2011, contestant Edward Reid's performance of nursery rhymes to the tune of Leona Lewis's "Run" was accused of plagiarising Frisky & Mannish's "Wheels on the Bus," a nursery rhyme medley set to Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground".[54][55]