Can you tell us about a childhood memory you have of the other one being really funny or saying something really funny

Bebe: When Jessie was a teenager, she wanted to be a children’s TV presenter and so she decided to film a demo reel on her camcorder. I was her ‘guest’. I was maybe five or six. She filmed us in her bedroom decorating gingerbread men and then she tried to sound really adult as she frantically ripped them out of my hands mid-icing and produced some others she ‘made earlier’. Then she filmed me jumping on the trampoline for a bit while she shouted moves I should do. I’m not sure what segment of Blue Peter that would be. 

Jessie: It’s less one thing and more how amazingly compliant Bebe was to all my mad ideas. I forced her into so many awkward sketches. In my first Edinburgh show, I made Bebe hide inside a cardboard Wendy house for the first ten minutes, so when she came out it was a nice surprise. Often, I would run offstage in a panic having forgotten my lines, and Bebe would be onstage alone, looking out of the cardboard house, with a brilliant, confused and scared face, and it would get the biggest laugh of the whole thing. 

Who were your childhood comedy idols and why did you love them so much?

Bebe: I was obsessed with Amanda Bynes from The Amanda Show. She was such a good actress with such lovely shiny hair, and it was really inspiring seeing a young girl play the comedic lead in almost all of the sketches. I also thought she lived on the set and I was curious about how she was able to fall asleep with a whole live studio audience sitting there. 

Jessie: I was instantly enamoured with Jennifer Aniston and Jim Carrey. Jennifer because she was so natural, and Jim because he created characters that had (and still have) never been seen before. My brothers and I would do Ace Ventura impressions. Now, my kids are old enough to watch Friends, and I’m so glad to be able to re-live my discovery of Rachel Green through them. 

Who are your comedy idols now and why do you love them so much?

Bebe: Julia Louis-Dreyfus! She’s my idol. Her performance as Selina in Veep is the best thing I’ve ever seen. Her timing and delivery are perfect and surprising every single time. She manages to be evil and relatable in a single breath. That’s really all we can aspire to achieve in this life.

Jessie: I don’t have many, if any, but that’s only because my free time is limited right now and I mainly watch shows that are appropriate for 9-12-year olds. However, I think that Claudia Winkleman should have done stand-up, and will always watch anything that Sarah Silverman puts out there. 

Please give us five words to describe each other’s comedy

Bebe: Whimsical, colourful, bizarre, profound, artistic.

Jessie: Wonderfully abstract, profound, emotional, goofy. 

Please give us five words to describe your own comedy

Bebe: Desperate, actress, afraid, of, death.

Jessie: Honest, strange, hopeful, carefully considered.

What’s the most profound/memorable/inspirational thing your sibling has said about the art of comedy?

Bebe: Cut out the boring bits and focus on the funny parts.

Jessie: What’s the point if you’re not enjoying it?

If you had a chance to say one thing to Nick Cave, what would it be?

Bebe: I wish we were related. That would be very cool.

What would constitute a successful 2024 Edinburgh Fringe for you?

Bebe: No sprained ankles and no major mental breakdowns.

Jessie: My kids having a good, active summer holiday, seeing me enjoy my work and helping me along the way.

The Screen Test, Pleasance Courtyard, 31 July–26 August, 3.10pm; Jessie Cave: An Ecstatic Display, Assembly Roxy, 31 July–26 August, 12.45pm; Jessie Cave And Alfie Brown Share A Work In Progress, Just The Tonic At Cabaret Voltaire, 1–25 August, 5pm.