Men in Coats

Like most overnight sensations, Men In Coats have worked hard over many, many nights to become so sensational. It's four years since white-haired Mick Dow first started on the show; two years since he recruited Maddy Sparham - shorter, hairier, 'with a face you couldn't buy'. The breakthrough came when they won the Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year competition last year.

'I wanted to do something in stand-up that was different,' says Dow. 'And I couldn't think of anything more different than not talking.' Visual comedy still strikes fear into some hearts. But anyone traumatised by Chaplin, Mr Bean or Lee Evans will have their mind changed by a breathtakingly imaginative hour of visual tricks.

Great clobber, too. 'I tried out some of the ideas with big raincoats,' says Dow. 'Then somebody said we looked like dirty old men. But a lot of the stuff is tricks about legs and hands, so we needed big coats. Then I remembered the snorkel parka from when I was a kid. Just wearing it was funny - and I loved the danger element of crossing the road in it.' Dow wrote the show, directed it, even built the props. But on stage, all Men In Coats are equal. 'You can't have two different writers and directors; then you're only going to have friction.'

Hailing from Ilkley - 'gateway to the Dales' - he's hugely affable, but with an intensity that grows when he talks about the nitty-gritty of the act. 'Sometimes we're at each other's throats. I can be really hard, though Maddy deals with the ins and outs of being a double act very well.'

Influences include Jacques Tati, Laurel and Hardy and Tommy Cooper, but Men In Coats are faster than all of them. 'People want it to go bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-finish, to the point where they say: "Let me out, I can't take any more!"'

A tour's already booked, but if this Fringe is the breakthrough many predict, they may realise their dream of taking the show to the West End. Whatever happens, Dow is grateful to be doing what he loves. 'Years ago, I saw acts like Harry Hill and Lee Evans closing at big clubs, the audience going crazy. To be doing the same thing is brilliant.'

Until Aug 26, Pleasance, 60 The Pleasance, 9.45pm, £9 to £10.