Alright, so the former McCann Erickson chief strategic planning officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the ex-Grey London chief executive aren't Morecambe and Wise. Sophisticated humour is what they're about. Both Oxbridge types, the pair are pretty vexed about what Smith claims is the Government's intention to offer degrees in absolutely anything.
Now they lampoon it in The Digital University for Lifesciences and Leisure, a sketch-show written and to be performed by themselves at the Actor's Theatre in London.
Twivy, now a strategic consultant, and Smith, a partner in the fledgling Grounds Morris Smith, came up with the idea "over a drunken lunch at the Groucho".
Both have long been comedy writers manque since working on reviews at their respective universities. Twivy has collaborated with Ian Hislop and Chris Tarrant while Smith linked with his Cambridge pal, the late Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame. "I wrote for fringe theatre for two years after leaving Cambridge. Sometimes people actually came to watch. Sadly not enough to stop me going into advertising," Smith recalls.
And what if the audiences are underwhelmed by the Twivy-Smith double act?
Smith isn't scared. "When you've done stand-up at the Comedy Store, it's 11pm and everybody coming in isn't only pissed but thinks they're considerably funnier than you, then the new show is a doddle by comparison."
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