Two comedians who star in their own TV and radio shows have revealed the secret of their success – they first honed their talents at a Wolverhampton Sunday School.

Tom Parry and Ben Clark are part of the award-winning sketch group Pappy’s Fun Club, alongside Brendan Dodds and Matthew Crosby, which is coming to the city’s Little Civic later this month.

Oxley-born Tom has revealed his early memories of trying to make people laugh at church alongside his childhood friend Ben.

Tom and former Penn resident Ben met at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Whitmore Reans. They went on to join the Central Youth Theatre (CYT), based at the Newhampton Arts Centre, where they starred in countless productions.

Tom, aged 28, a former St Peter’s pupil, said: “We did Bill and Ted’s Greatest Adventures but went through the Bible stories. So we’d say things like ‘Woah, Moses – you’re a dude. Excellent!’

“Then Wayne’s World became God’s World. We were also quite inspired by Chris Evans’ Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, which was Don’t Forget Your Bible. I think people at church must have thought ‘how weird!’ It didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“Our inspiration came from films more than TV back in the day. We wanted to do what those guys were doing. Church meant we had an audience in Sunday School or at the front of church.

“We once recreated the end of Sister Act 2. Ben and I were in charge of the rap. We got the giggles, we thought we were so cool but it was horrendous.”

Tom can currently be seen in adverts for the O2 Academy, which are aired before and after E4’s hit show Skins.

He is one half of comedy duo Zak and Jim, and gets to interview cast members and bands.

They have their own page on the E4 website and MySpace where photos and videos are posted.

Ben, aged 27, who attended Highfields School, said: “We did stuff at the front of church when we were about 10. We did sketches and whatever they would let us do really. Basically, we were just showing off and trying to out-do each other.

“We were always trying to make each other laugh. I remember we got the giggles while doing a rap in church once. We got bemused encouragement from the congregation which is the same as we get now.”

London-based Pappy’s Fun Club have become regulars at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where they earned an If.Comedy nomination for Best Show in 2007.

This led to appearances on BBC3’s Comedy Shuffle, Radio 1’s Switch and ITV’s Comedy Cuts. They have also starred in their own self-titled show on Radio 4 and a half-hour special on Channel 4’s Comedy Lab.

Last year they received a Chortle award for Best Sketch Act, played the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and enjoyed a sell-out run at Edinburgh.

Family friend and ex-church member Pete Smith, of Penn, first met the duo in 1988.

Pete, aged 55, said: “They were always entertainers and thoroughly loved by everyone for who they were and how they looked at life. They were individuals who would always make a joke out of things.”

Tickets for Funergy at the Little Civic event on March 14 are priced £10. See www.pappysfunclub.co.uk for more details.