Sifl and Olly

The Sifl and Olly Show
Screenshot showing Sifl (left) and Olly
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Liam Lynch and Matt Crocco
No. of seasons	3
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	MTV
Original release	1997 – 1999

The Sifl and Olly Show is a comedy TV series that incorporates sock puppets, animation, and musical performances. Musicians Liam Lynch and Matt Crocco created and performed the series. The first episode aired on MTV in 1997. The show was cancelled in 1999. The characters, along with new material, currently appear on Liam Lynch's podcast entitled Lynchland.

The origins of The Sifl & Olly Show go back to the 1980s. As children, Crocco and Lynch would create and perform funny songs and sketches to entertain themselves.They remained friends through high school and college, even though they saw little of each other while they attended Kent State University. Lynch left Kent State and the duo were separated for a few years, but they reunited in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1990s and recorded the comedy album Camp Sunny Side Up on a 4-Track. During this period they were also constantly recording random funny conversations, interviews, sketches, and songs. Soon after, Lynch moved to Liverpool, England to attend the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, but the friends continued to make funny recordings and send them to each other.

In 1995, while Lynch was still in Liverpool, he found some broken 4-Track tapes and repaired them. These tapes contained conversations and material intended for his and Crocco's second comedy album (which they never recorded).He decided to make something using these tapes as a Christmas present for Crocco.Lynch had been inspired by a series of British commercials by Aardman Studios and had hoped to do stop-action clay animation, but he did not have the money or the equipment for it.Instead, he made puppets out of his own socks and a large plastic sunflower and recorded a video of himself acting out their tapes with the puppets.Lynch chose the name for the puppets from a fake commercial Crocco had made for one of their recordings, and Sifl & Olly were born.