Jthat usually doesn’t happen: I came to interview two people, and neither of them is here. Ed MacArthur, co-creator of String v Spitta, a hit comedy about rival children’s party hosts, has Covid, and beams in a Soho theater meeting room via Zoom. Kiell Smith-Bynoe, his partner in crime, is wrapping up a 10-week shoot on the fourth series of the sitcom Ghosts and is behind schedule. “I feel like,” MacArthur says as we wait, “Kiell was pretty elite.” We talk about their work in the field of children’s entertainment. “He had his magic tricks and his great costumes. When I was just playing classical music and telling babies stories.

It was back then, when MacArthur supported his budding performance career with “about 27 sidelines”, including glorified babysitting. “It was usually just me and loads of au pairs who didn’t speak English. I found myself cracking jokes at a room of only children and people who didn’t understand what I was saying. While Kiell did all the bells and whistles. As at the right time, the actor of Ghosts arrives and says his hellos. Is it true, Kiell, that you were once the king of children’s entertainment? “I was getting kicked a lot,” he replies emphatically. “Let’s not forget that. I got kicked all the time.

String v Spitta launched at London’s Soho Theater just before Christmas and was an instant hit, albeit after a long gestation period. MacArthur and Smith-Bynoe were featured on the sidelines of the Edinburgh Festival in 2016, the latter pre-Ghosts and with little time off from her side-hustle with children’s party outfit Simply Smiley. Significant memories? “Bank of England Governors’ Day,” he recalls with a grimace, “when all the important people in the Bank of England were like, ‘Do something with my kids!’ and then they were completely crushed .

When the duo discovered this shared history, they began to draw a two-handed comic about this underexplored world, which built on the lessons they had learned performing in front of child audiences. “If you turn your back on them, their attention goes elsewhere,” MacArthur says. “So every moment should be entertaining – and if not, why not? This is a very useful rule.

MacArthur and Smith-Bynoe are musicians, and soon they were happily reworking children’s party songs for comedic effect. “Which was cool,” MacArthur says, “because so many kids’ songs are absolute hits.” Characters emerged: Sylvester String, animator and old-school children’s disciplinarian; and rapper TikTok Spitta, the new kid on the block, whose improvised grime styles — not to mention balloon animals (“I only remember how to do a dog,” Smith-Bynoe says, “or a giraffe, which is a dog with a long neck”) – toddlers love it.

As if channeling Sylvester String, MacArthur cites Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus as an influence. “I’m the classy artist at the Salieri establishment who takes the traditions of the art form incredibly seriously and has a great relationship with all those parents. Then comes this absolute maverick who breaks the rules and disrupts everything. Their December gigs (the run was cut short by Omicron) told the story of the couple’s rocky relationship in flashback as they delivered their double act to the offspring of Russian oligarchs – AKA, the audience. “When we realized we could treat adult audiences like children,” MacArthur says, “that was the great theatrical breakthrough.”

Along with improvised rap battles, reusing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, and amusing commentary on class rivalries in the capital, much of the considerable fun of String v Spitta is reliving children’s party experience as adults. . “Most of our audience and peers wouldn’t have attended a children’s party in 25 years,” says Smith-Bynoe. “It’s about nostalgia and the excitement that this time around we can do it with booze, be a little mean and scream back.”

By popular demand, and assuming the pair ever end up in the same room, the show returns next week for a short run. “We have big plans for how we can take it forward,” MacArthur says. Smith-Bynoe raises an eyebrow. “Well, I have big plans,” MacArthur said, “I haven’t shared them with you yet.” An inevitable adjustment will be made to the backdrop of the Russians in Kensington. “This world of the super-rich who outdo themselves with the biggest children’s parties is going to feel a lot hotter than Christmas.”

“We have two weeks to rewrite the entire series,” Smith-Bynoe says. “We’re thinking of writing a song called Londongrad Is Burning Down,” MacArthur says.

Beyond that, the dream is the small screen: String v Spitta is already at a few drafts of its television treatment. “We’re really hoping to get there,” Smith-Bynoe says. “I love doing the live show. It makes me laugh every night – seeing the responses from the audience and the feeling of being kept on my feet. I have the time of my life to do it. But at the same time, I’d like to make some money, you know what I mean?