The Stevenson Experience

James and Ben Stevenson are the identical twin musical comedy act, The Stevenson Experience, who specialise in cheerful, crude-edged pub rock comedy, delivered with taste and hilarity. They rip on rappers, travellers, and feed us some local fare as they tear through the Perth brunch culture, syncing their original songs with cutthroat jabs thrown at one another.

When speaking with James Stevenson about their current show Spot the Difference, I got the opportunity to discover more about their unique brand of comedy.

‘Our style is super high energy, really poppy fun music crammed with jokes,’ says James. ‘The energy and the fun bring out the joy, the laughter for really energetic performances.’ James adds, ‘It’s comedy for everyone; relatable jokes about things that have affected us through song. Think Flight of the Conchords mixed with Tenacious D, Tim Minchin mixed with Book of Mormon.’

The theme for Spot the Difference is family and in the 60 minute battle of sibling rivalry, one brother consistently gets one up on the other for belly-aching comedy at its best.

We watch them tear through their similarities, their disparities: one is taller, one is fatter. One has better luck with the ladies, one has a life. James was born 15 minutes earlier, but Ben is clearly smarter. He can strum a guitar, but Ben can really rip through a piano.

Their creative twinsults, clever crowd work and an absolutely unreal Pitch Perfect-esque final performance connect for a story about looking the same whilst being totally different. ‘Our lives are so intertwined from working together, and this show explores what would happen if things became different. What if one of us died?’ he laughs. ‘It’s lighter than that though.’

Having sold out entire seasons both nationally and internationally and picking up a Best Comedy Nomination for the third year running at Fringe World, big things can certainly be expected from the duo. Perth is the first run of Spot the Difference, with The Stevenson Experience bringing their trademark banter to Melbourne for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival next.

‘Perth Fringe goers take a bigger chance on us, but Melbourne Comedy Festival is the best in the world. It’s our favourite place to perform, our core, where we’ve delivered the most shows.’

They plan to keep it simple, with the style and content of the show delivered alike across festivals including Perth, Melbourne and Edinburgh. But keep your ears out for the hilariously local jabs.

‘We change some of the content to relate to the city, adapting wording to local knowledge,’ James says. ‘We get to change it up a little more when we cross continents, but our jokes are pretty universal. Either way, being better than your younger brother is relatable in any city.’

I asked James about what he finds hard about doing comedy, and he states it all rests in the preparation.

‘Writing it is the hardest part. We’re meticulous, we try to perfect, structure and word it right. At its core level, it has to make us laugh and we are always asking ourselves how to translate what we think to make it funny,’ he said. ‘To translate it means we spend a great deal of time on it and by the end, we wonder if it’s funny anymore.’

The audience make all the difference. ‘Seeing an audience come back, having a sold out season is an accolade to be more than proud of. Audiences coming to see us just because they know who we are and because they like us is more than enough.’

Spot the Difference  
Victoria Hotel, Acacia Room, 215 Little Collins Street
Thursday, 29 March to Sunday, 22 April 2018 (No shows on Mondays.)
comedyfestival.com.au/2018/shows/spot-the-difference