THERE are many badges of honour which people wear with pride such as Martin Fry from the 1980s pop group, ABC and his gold lame suit and from the acting group, Three and a Half Pints actor Robin Hatcher who described himself as as being ‘a Comedy Geek’.

This revelation from Robin emerged during my interview with him ahead of Three and a Half Pints presenting The Three Musketeers at the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton on May 29.

Explaining his Geekness, Robin was talking about word play and how Abbott and Costello use it to perfection in their famous sketch ‘Who’s on First?.

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He continued by saying: “There is one moment when Costello hits Abbott’s hat off with one swing of the baseball bat, fantastic physical comedy.

“I think I have always been a comedy geek.

“This started when I was seven years old and was watching Lee Evans on DVD doing one of his biggest shows.

“I could not believe anyone is that funny and I knew then I wanted to be a comedian. It was everything I love about comedy.

“I have a Bachelor of Arts in acting and I am a King Comedy nerd. I am always listening or watching performers to find out what is going on.

“I even go up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to watch shows.

“I remember going up one year and watched RomeshRanganathan who was performing in a pub to no more than 25 people and now he is one of the biggest comedians in Britain.

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“It was a pleasure to see him before he got massive.”

This feeling of being in a comedy club is something which the three members of Three and a Half Pints, Richard Francis, Callum Donnelly and Robin Hatcher, want to make their audience feel when they come and see their show.

Three and a Half Pints version of The Three Musketeers is set in the seventeenth century which has never been so silly.

Chaos, mayhem and stupidity reign supreme as children’s comedy trio the Three Half Pints swish their swords, buff their boots and flourish their feathers in their most ridiculous adventure yet.

Will they defeat the dastardly evil-doers? Will they save the damsel in distress? Will they actually read the book before writing the show?

Fresh from Justin’s House and Spot Bots, join the CBeebies’ favourites in a hilarious new slapstick adventure of chivalry, swordplay and suddenly falling over.

Robin said: “We are family entertainers who are involved in highly physical and fast paced slapstick.

“Slapstick is a universal form of comedy which stretches from Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges to Mr Bean.

“We are continuing that lineage.

“When we start the show it is manic and then it becomes less manic and we become very quiet and then the energy starts going up and the laughs go up.

“We want them to feel like they are part of a gang.

"We want them to share in the laughs.

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“If one of the children shouts out then we want to share in the laugh.

“What we put the show on for people we want them to feel like they are in and part of a gang show and the audience including children and parents are then part of our gang.”

Three and a Half Pints all met at university when they got together for three years and have been performing as a professional company for five years.

They have their own methods for keeping the laughs coming and everyone happy in the theatre.

He said: “We always make the children come up to our level. We have never played it down but have always played it up.

“We understand we cannot speak down to the children, they will rise to a higher level.

“You have got to engage with them.

“What we like is we are family entertainers.

“This means you can bring your five year old and your granny to the show and they can all enjoy it.

“There are jokes for every one and a few innuendos for the parents but nothing too rude.

“What we love is the fact each show is unique, each show is different and a one off.

“No two performances are alike.

“We leave places where we can improvise so this keeps it fresh for us and the audience.

“We also love travelling to different theatres. We have been to Taunton before and we always have a great audience.”

- Three and a Half Pints: The Three Musketeers will be at the Brewhouse Theatre on May 29.

The show starts at 1.30pm.

Tickets cost £8.50 and £30 for a family (4).

For further details and to buy tickets go online at thebrewhouse.net or call the box office on 01823 283244.