Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez are a British comedy duo known collectively as Max & Ivan.^[1] They are the creators, writers and stars of the BBC Radio 4 series The Casebook of Max & Ivan^[2] and Channel 4 Comedy Blap The Reunion.^[3] They also appear together as Ben & Jerry in BBC Two's W1A. The duo met at Royal Holloway, University of London^[4] where they produced the radio show (and later podcast) Max and Ivàn: Exposed for the college's Insanity Radio station.^[5] They co-founded London improvised comedy theatre The Free Association^[6] and perform live narrative sketch comedy across the world.^[7]

In episode 73 of The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith, Max & Ivan describe their live shows as narrative sketch comedy; writing character-led narratives that feature interweaving plot lines. They perform these multi-character shows with no costume changes and minimal use of props.^[8]

Comedy acts that Max & Ivan have cited as influences include The League of Gentlemen, Victoria Wood, Lucas and Walliams, Steve Coogan and the Marx Brothers.^[9]