Robert Dobson and Jim Beckett - better known as charmingly cheeky characters Bob & Jim - are back at the festival and following on from last year's hit show with more inspired silliness. We caught up with them to find out more, and talk a little bit about the business side of performing at the Fringe...

Hi guys. What's in this year's show?

Well it's got all sorts really: electric uke pop covers, a bit of educational mime in the French style, an exclusive appearance from Dan Kapacinski and Tom Selby-Gummeridge (the men behind 'cockney' neo-vaudeville comedy phenomenon, Bob & Jim), some beatboxing, and a séance.

Ohh, nice! It's perhaps worth pointing out that Bob & Jim are characters - not yourselves - however, are there any similarities?

We share many attributes with Bob and Jim, such as being friendly, polite, unfashionable, cynical about pop culture, inseparable, misguided, ale drinkers, eager to entertain, and being called Bob and Jim. The main difference is that they are eternally optimistic and hopeful.

Are your other characters - Barry & Martin - also in this year's show? Also, we hear you've got two new characters?

Yes. Bob & Jim get interrupted by the evil double act, Barry & Martin, who are fairly absurd pantomime villains - and it is implied Bob & Jim might be knowingly playing them as a rather heavy-handed dramatic device. Then in the midst of this, Bob & Jim break out of character to reveal the performers who play Bob & Jim - Dan Kapacinski and Tom Selby-Gummeridge - a pair of pretentious media types, who brag about their bad sitcom and try to impress the kids with beatboxing. Then they 'become' Bob & Jim again to satisfy the audience's assumed need for fart jokes and double entendre.

Deep! You're on at an earlier time this year?

We wanted to go on earlier than last year's 10pm slot because Bob & Jim is 'clean' and has a nice broad appeal in terms of age range. In the process of 'negotiation' with the venue we ended up on a bit earlier than we would have ideally liked. We have made some adjustments to our marketing and branding to suit this shift; the show is called GO instead of Sex Fire and there is no sex or fire on the poster.

Ha ha. Does it mean you're getting an older crowd now?

The show itself is pretty much what we would have liked to make whatever time it was on. And yes, it is a slightly older crowd, on the whole, but we tended to attract a slightly older crowd last year at 10pm too. We'd like a few more young trendy people in the audience because they are more likely to tweet and tell their friends to turn up to comedy clubs. And they're more likely to be invited in to focus groups at the BBC.

So what is your ideal audience - late night drunk or family friendly early?

There's nothing like the buzz of working a late night noisy drinking crowd, like at Spank! for example, but it's also great to be a favourite with people's mums and dads, and especially gratifying when families turn up and enjoy the show together.

It seems this year you're really going for it: big venue, big poster campaign etc... Is this a make-or-break year?

We've actually spent a bit less this year, which we were pleasantly surprised by, and we're not really into the make-or-break thing because that's too much pressure and you don't get to choose when (or if) your break comes, so we pretend to be very laid back about it all.

Interesting, and sensible heads. Although it sounds like you're relaxed, what is it like behind-the-scenes considering you spend so much time together? Also, isn't it a risk relying so much on another person in regards to your career?

Well, on the whole, hanging around with your best mate making strangers laugh for money is quite good fun. There are longish periods of silence sometimes during rehearsals - they're the bits when we each think the other one is wrong about something. And yes, if one of us suddenly got a terrible disease or a part in a sitcom, the act, as it is now, would end. And that would be a shame. But we'd probably come back to it when we're 70 and get famous and die.

Going back a bit now, you were on the circuit for a while but then disappeared?

The first time round (2001-2003) we had a fair bit of success on the stand-up circuit but sometimes we were perceived as a bit 'novelty' for a lot of the more conventional clubs. We re-launched a couple of years back due to popular demand following some YouTube videos and discovered a now active sketch scene alongside the stand-up and cabaret circuits. Also, we're older, which makes life a bit easier, and of course networking to find gigs and acts and promoters is much easier with Facebook etc. Also, our wives wanted us out the house.

Ha ha. You host a number of shows in London; will you be returning to these after the festival?

We've been running Bob and Jim's Sunday Best monthly at The Cavendish Arms for the last two years and earlier this year expanded to three monthly shows with Bob and Jim's Swanky Soiree at The Vandella and Bob and Jim's East End Promise at Deansways. And of course this is a really good way to run out new material every month and put on our favourite acts. But it does require a lot of promotion to get audiences in so we're planning to scale back on this side of things and focus on fewer, bigger events and playing other festivals in the UK and overseas. And to start work on Bob and Jim On Ice: The Musical.

Great, although we're not sure about the ice. Thanks for your time guys, and all the best with the rest of the festival and your plans going forward...

'Bob and Jim - Go' is at 12:20pm in the afternoon at the Underbelly (Bristo Square). Listings

To find out more about Bob & Jim, watch some of their videos, and find out about their London shows see their website. www.bobandjim.co.uk