NEW SCHOOL OF COMEDY ‘EVEN FUNNIER’

The stars of School of Comedy say the new series of the sketch show has more laughs than the first, but still has the same shock value.

“It's funnier”, says 18-year-old Beth Rylance. “We've settled into it more – we're used to it now and comfortable performing with each other.”

The show, which first ran on E4 at the end of 2009, features young actors playing out comedy sequences aimed at an older audience – meaning there's a bit of swearing involved.

Will explains: “It is shocking, especially with some of the younger cast members. Hearing kids swear is definitely shocking.”

However, the 17-year-old admits the most important thing is the humour.

“First thing's first, we want to make it funny in its own right,” he says.

The second stint of School of Comedy has just started with a load of new characters, including 1980s businessman Leonard Lizard and 1970s TV coppers 'The Filth'.

Beth says she relishes one of the sketches where she gets to be particularly nasty.

“We have a blind Welsh women called Angharad who has a long suffering husband, (played by Will).

“He plays tricks on her because she's such an awful human being. She's so awful to him that he constantly has to get his own back.”

'The God Mother'
One of Will's favourite set-ups is a tongue-in-cheek parody of the mafia theme, called Mafia Mamma.

“It's like The Godmother”, he tells Newsbeat. “The mum running the family crime syndicate.”

The three actors says they get on well off camera as well

But Beth admits the cast was a bit distracted by a big table of food when filming those scenes.

“I remember sitting next to Jack and saying 'When Ella does this line, you hand me a piece of pizza and I'll hand you a breadstick and I'll have a bit of that pasta!'”

The other third of the School of Comedy star trio is Jack Harris.

The actor has recently been up in Scotland with the rest of the cast, putting the show on live at the Edinburgh Festival.

He admits he enjoyed the attention he got from the fans: “It was weird getting recognised for the first time, but it's awesome.”

Jack also says the gang are good mates off-camera as well as on, and there isn't much bickering between them.

“We're all such close friends and have spent time at school together. It's nice as soon as you've finished to just hang out and just mess around.”

Narnia movie
The three actors have different paths planned out for the next few years.

Beth wants to carry on acting but says she's going to university as a “back up” – she's off to Liverpool to study Comparative American Studies.

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My character unfortunately is a complete wimp – a useless, grumpy little so and so

Will Poulter on his Narnia character
Jack is weighing things up: “Still thinking about what to do”, he admits.

“Gap years, university… I'm thinking about doing drama.”

For Will however, (who also appeared in the film Son of Rambow), it could be a future filled with big budget movies – at least if you consider his recent experience on the upcoming Narnia film.

He spent time in Australia filming for the next installment, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but he says his character was far from heroic.

“My character unfortunately is a complete wimp – a useless, grumpy little so and so… He does get to fight a mouse, that's the only thing!”

School of Comedy is on Mondays on E4 at 10.30pm.