by Siobhan McIntyre

After six final performances starting Feb. 9 at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway, fraternal comedian duo and founders of the “Great and Secret Comedy Show” will be picking up stakes and heading for Los Angeles.

“We’re just ready. We’re just at that point in our lives creatively and developmentally. We’re ready to mature and to move on to other things. Also, both Jack and Bob’s joke shops have closed down,” said David Walsh, who performs with his brother and fellow comedian, Chris Walsh.

The team will tour throughout the country for two months, before settling in Los Angeles, Walsh said. “It should be an amazing experience. It’ll be a lot like a carnival. We’ll pull into town, do a show, we’ll leave, people will die.”

The brothers started performing together in Inman Square about four years ago, said Walsh. Success is hard to find as an individual in stand-up, and two heads are better than one, he said. “It’s definitely more enjoyable to be with someone you know very well. When it goes well it’s the most fun thing in the world.”

A tradition of comedians working in tandem existed ages ago, but was not common in the last 20 years, said Walsh. The pair’s show is therefore a sort of novelty, he said. “We are a duo, but we don’t know much about the culture of duos.”

Naturally, the learning curve was very steep; things clicked and then unclicked and then clicked again, the brothers said. “The first step was to buy a second mic.”

Stand-up is really learning how not to fail, Walsh said. The two developed their routine at the Comedy Studio in Harvard Square,
he said.

“We had to relearn everything we had learned. They gave us the opportunity to perform together, to test the waters as a duo. Only a few places will stick with you like that.”

In March, the brothers performed alongside all levels of comedians at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, Walsh said. The festival was a wonderful experience and served as another impetus for moving West, he said.

Los Angeles seems like a really wild place, there are lots of people and it’s warm, said Dave. Although Dave said he will not be sad to leave, Chris said parting from the life they’ve known up until now may be a little difficult, but any reservations are coupled with excitement.

“It’s all champaign breakfast,” said Walsh. “The goal is to skirt steady work. We don’t want our wax wings to melt.”