Describing themselves as 'the first comedy troupe composed of autistic people', US sketch combo Asperger's Are Us 'formed for the same reason anyone does comedy: To make you laugh!'

In the wake of their recent documentary (available via Netflix and iTunes), the quartet - Jack, Ethan, New Michael and Noah - make their first trip to the UK, which includes a date at Birmingham’s Glee Club on Sunday 25 June 2017. Expect finally crafted deadpan sketches and silliness.

Noah (who wears the 'I Don't Want Your Pity' T-shirt and resembles a younger Nic Cage) takes the questions.

How did Asperger's Are Us come together?
Asperger’s Are Us formed on the north shore of Massachusetts, USA in the summer of 2010 after New Michael Ingemi, Jack Hanke, and Ethan Finlan graduated from an acting/ comedy summer camp where I was their counsellor. We’ve been performing 100% original sketches ever since, and this’ll be our first international tour, and the first time New Michael or Ethan have left North America.

How has your writing and performing progressed over the years?
We started out good and gradually got worse and worse!

Who are some of your comedy inspirations / influences?
Andy Kaufman, Steven Wright, Kids In The Hall, Saturday Night Live, Airplane!, Kenny K-Strass Strasser, Emo Philips, Bibendum The Michelin Man.

There does seem to be some threads running through your comedy – particularly language and an element of the absurd. Would that be a fair observation?
Definitely! We love wordplay and absurdism.

How do you define or view your comedy?
Dark absurdist deadpan with a bit of wordplay thrown in.

Do you find yourselves taking on particular kinds of roles in sketches?
We all think it’s very funny to make Ethan play little kids who get injured in some way, I don’t know why. I’m 10 years older, and a college professor, so if there’s an authority figure I often do it. Jack and New Michael look the best in dresses, so they sometimes play women.

Do you have recurring characters in the sketches?
We’ve done a few recurring characters over the years, like Gary Dink and Balloons Manfriend, who you can see in our live at Poptech video.

You often conclude the night with a Q&A - will you be doing that in the UK?
Absolutely! We’re happy to answer questions about autism then, and the rest we respond to with jokes.

The blurb for the Netflix documentary says that you're preparing "for one final, ambitious show before going their separate ways" - and yet ... here you are! So what happened?
Netflix needed a hook to bring in the viewers, but we never intended to disband, we just thought it possible that we wouldn’t have time to reunite when Jack returned from Oxford [University, where he briefly studied], but, almost immediately, we began performing again - he returned over three years ago.

Tell us a bit about the Noah Britton-Flavored Preserves?
The funniest donation in history, this link is 100% true ... ecomingafoundation.wordpress.com/2017/06/08/new-reserve-unit-in-the-rio-zunac-watershed/ - HuffPo article should be out later …

Will you be selling your “I don’t want your pity” T-shirts on the UK dates?
Only the ASK ME ABOUT MY FEAR OF STRANGERS shirts, but those are available on our website: www.aspergersareus.com

What are your plans after the UK tour? Any more shows or projects on the horizon?
Passing away. Then a US (and maybe Canadian) tour for a month, then back home to try and work on some more video stuff. Then passing away again.

By Dave Freak