The Walsh Brothers are not trying to make everybody laugh.
“That comes from performing in front of nobody for a long time,” said David Walsh, the elder half of the duo. The two sat down to chat with The Somerville News on the eve of their weekend of shows at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theater in Davis Square. “When you’re confident that what you’re doing is the right thing, and nobody is there to see it, you just keep working, and having fun with it.”

The Walsh Brothers performing in front of nobody? Sounds like some kind of alternate universe, one without the daring feats of strength of Escapo, or a Yoda doll named Joda, or an evil clown-driven van that transports unruly audience members to a watery grave.
Indeed, the Brothers performed for a packed house at each of their three shows this weekend. This is a far cry from their inauspicious beginnings in a theater/bookstore in Haverhill.
“A guy by the name of Robin Hordon who used to book Catch a Rising Star in Harvard Square saw us,” said Chris Walsh. “He was doing some stuff up in Haverhill.”
“This guy Brian Longwell, who used to be part of the Catch a Rising Star scene, bought a building in Haverhill and with his wife converted it into a one-half used bookstore and half theater. The theater was beautiful.”
“The bookstore was beautiful too,” said Chris. “But nobody ever came to see us. It was just the beginning for us, and (Hordon) said ‘this is your sandbox, play around and have fun’. There is no pressure on what you’re doing, this is where you’re going to sort of learn your craft.”
It was there where much of the Walsh Brothers’ craft was developed. The lack of crowds meant a freedom to perform what they wanted to perform. Sometimes, when a crowd did actually show up, that apporoach could backfire.
“It was tough without an audience, and sometimes when we did do sketches, people would walk out,” said David. “It was probably less than forty seats, so you would see someone walk out, like when you touched on religion.”
Walkouts did not deter the Brothers from keeping in their more controversial material. In fact, one of their riskiest- and funniest- routines still has its place in their act: a cautionary tale about a naughty priest, read in childlike voices from ‘The Walsh Brothers Book of Tales’.
Of the planning and marketing for thier shows, the Brothers say they are still learning.
“We see things pretty well visually, we just can’t execute it,” said Chris, talking about promotional material.
“We’re constantly contradicting ourselves,” said David. “We don’t realize that you put in money to make money, becaue this whole conedy thing for us isn’t about money, so we don’t put money into anything and we’re finding out that that’s actualy what people do. You know, they’ll put like $1000 into promoting a show, so people will come see it.”
They said the shows at Tingle’s were to be taped for a DVD compilation, one that they can use to farm themselves out to talent scouts in New York or Los Angeles.
With the DVD in mind, the Brothers turned the Tingle shows into a greatest hits compilation, with characters like Escapo making appearances.
These fan favorites first grew in stature as part of the Brothers’ ‘’The Great and Secret Show’, which is still a weekly show at ImprovBoston in Inman Square in Cambridge. If you missed them at Tingle’s, catch them there.