'Concerning screen times' and TikTok slop: The Leeds duo set to bring their 'Oscars' to Edinburgh Fringe

If your daily smartphone screen time is high enough to cause your GP concern, a Leeds comedy duo has crafted the exact theatre experience you need.

123movies.com, the brand-new hour of sketch comedy from duo Chuck ’n’ Jeck - collectively known to their friends as Jess Render and Charlie Lacey - is headed to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.

Or as they call it - “the Olympics of sketch comedy.”

It marks a massive milestone for the partnership, who have spent the last two years honing a lightning-fast style designed explicitly for an audience raised on digital media.

Named after a notorious internet film piracy website (that those of us of a certain age remember), the show promises a chaotic, multimedia skewering of modern Hollywood culture, the Oscars, and the bizarre nature of the internet.

"The show really is for people whose screen time is concerning," laughs Charlie. "It combines the cultural references of the world of the Oscars, but it also signals to people who are really on their phones that this is the show for them."

While the pair have been performing comedy together as a duo for two years, their creative chemistry stretches back over a decade.

It’s an established shorthand that makes writing together incredibly easy - even if sharing a house complicates the professional boundaries.

"We live together as well, which makes it harder because there’s a total lack of respect." Jess jokes. "We’ll organise to start a day of writing or rehearsal in the living room, and I’ll sometimes just sleep right through my alarm.

“I wouldn’t necessarily do that if it wasn't someone I’ve known for ten years."

"The lack of respect definitely goes both ways," Charlie agrees.

"But because we have so many of our own shared cultural references, our biggest struggle is sometimes understanding what widely understood references exist outside of our own bubble."

That insular, hyper-connected logic forms the technical backbone of 123movies.com.

Translating what they describe as a "TikTok slop version of the Oscars" from the rapid-fire ecosystem of social media onto a live theatre stage required meticulous planning.

The production is incredibly tech-heavy, relying on a complex web of live projection, a hand-held clicker, and hundreds of precise sound and visual cues.

To keep the modern attention span engaged, the duo even superimpose videos of mobile games like Subway Surfers behind them on stage while tearing through parodies of hyper-serious Hollywood "behind-the-scenes" featurettes and red-carpet fashion correspondents.

Though the duo split their time between the city and London, they are quick to praise the massive creative evolution happening right on their doorstep, noting that Leeds is rapidly establishing itself as a premier destination for boundary-pushing performance art.

"Leeds is becoming a bit of a hotspot," says Charlie, pointing to a wave of local acts making the trek up to Scotland this summer, including Succubus and Glow Job.

"There’s more alternative comedy coming up here now than somewhere like Manchester. A lot is happening."

Navigating complex modern themes on stage - including jokes about navigating heteronormative tropes as queer performers and Charlie's identity as a trans creative - requires a delicate balance, but the pair retain complete confidence in their audience's appetite for nuance.

"We definitely approach things from a satirical point of view," Charlie explains. "We feel the need to identify me as trans quite early in the show because of the nature of the jokes, but we have confidence in what we're doing.

“Nobody wants to watch a show where they feel like they are being spoon-fed."

For Yorkshire comedy fans heading up to Edinburgh next month, the duo's late-night 10.40 PM slot promises a high-energy party atmosphere - and an entirely judgment-free zone for the digitally distracted.

"If you have a screen time of over five hours a day, come along," Jess pitches.

"You can even play on your phone at the back."

123movies.com plays at the Gilded Balloon Patter House from August 5-30 (no performance on the 19) at 10.40pm. For tickets or more information, visit the 123movies.com page on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe website and follow the duo through their Instagram account.