Armstrong and Miller appear to be TV’s most debonair comedy double act. So why are they feeling their age, intrigued by vampires and rather fond of cross-dressing?


Charmed, M


BY B RUCE DESSAU


eeting up with comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller involved not only a short stroll up Portobello Road to a west London members’ club, but also a stroll down memory lane.


I passed the Gate Theatre, opposite Notting Hill


Gate underground station, where I first encountered them 17 years ago. They’d only just become a double act after meeting through a mutual friend and were performing as part of a comedy sketch club called TBA. “Gosh, that feels like a long time ago,” smiles the extremely clubbable Alexander Armstrong (Xander to his chums).


I can still remember that they did a sketch involving a boat.


“Yes, there was a boat onstage,” recalls Miller. “We performed after the main play, so we just used whatever was on the set.” A lot of water has passed under the bridge for the two former Cambridge University


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