Creating A Succesful Double Act

A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior. Often one of the duo members, the straight man, feed or stooge is portrayed as reasonable and serious, and the other one, the funny man or comic is portrayed as funny, unintelligent or unorthodox. When a woman is in the "straight man" role, she is more often referred to as a comic foil. The term feed comes from the way a straight man will set up jokes for—or "feed" them to—their partner.
Despite the names given to the roles, the "straight man" need not necessarily be humorless, and it is not always the comic who provides the act's humor. Sometimes, it is the straight man who gets the laughs through his or her sarcastic reactions to the comic's antics, as was often the case with Stewart Lee's deadpan, reasoned reactions to Richard Herring's more ridiculous antics in their pairing. Where the "straight man" serves no personal comic purpose but acts as a device to make the "comic" look good, they are known as a "Stooge". This is sometimes considered a derogatory term. Most often, however, the humor in a double act comes from the way the two personalities play off each other rather than the individuals themselves; in many successful acts the roles are interchangeable.
Double acts are usually portrayed as close friends; the partners are often close in real life, for example The Two Ronnies as well as Morecambe and Wise. However, tensions could often lead to a break-up, to both the act and friendship. Dudley Moore ended his partnership with Peter Cook by walking out on the final Derek and Clive recording, and Cannon and Ball, at the height of their success, did not speak to each other off stage, though both pairs later reconciled. Similarly, American duo Abbott and Costello ended their career despising each other, as did British acts Newman and Baddiel and brothers Mike & Bernie Winters.