Over the past two years, Please Don’t Destroy have been making must-watch digital shorts that have become a staple of Saturday Night Live. Now the trio—Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy—are about to embark on a nationwide tour which begins in Milwaukee this Thursday at Turner Hall Ballroom. Since the group is primarily known for their videos, we caught up with them before they departed for Milwaukee to ask what was in store for their tour.
Milwaukee Record: So now your first tour is underway. You already had a show in Philadelphia, but the bulk of the tour kicks off this week. What are the shows like? What can we expect?
John Higgins: I mean, they are scripted, but we get pretty loose up there. It’s a really fun outlet because it’s like going back to what we started doing for years of just live sketches where we can play different characters and different people. So it’s more exciting in ways that this is going to be a different thing for people that have enjoyed our videos. I think this will be like a different side of us they like. But it’s also us really at the end of the day.
Ben Marshall: It’s kind of like a hybrid of stand-up and sketch. It starts out presentational and we talk to the audience and interact with people. But then we’ll be like “okay, now we do a sketch.” So it’s fun. It feels like our ideal show is like giving the audience the feeling like they are part of our friend group and got to watch us hang out and do bits for an hour.
JH: That’s the goal, to make it feel like we’re in a living room.
MR: Now you’re coming to Milwaukee on Thursday. Have any of you ever been to Milwaukee before?
JH: First time for me and I’m pumped up.
Martin Herlihy: Yeah, I’m excited.
BM: First time, can’t wait!
JH: What should we do while we’re there for four hours before the show?
MR: I don’t know if any of you are basketball fans…
BM: Big time!
MR: I don’t know if you remember when the Bucks won the championship, there was the Deer District right outside with thousands of fans. The Deer District is right there, so you’re right across from the basketball arena. And then you’re a few blocks away from the Milwaukee River, too. So if you want, I bet there’s a time where you can take a river cruise down to Lake Michigan, so there’s plenty to do to keep you guys entertained.
BM: I want at least one Milwaukee Buck to come see the show. Jrue Holiday, if you’re watching this…Khris Middleton, if you see this, come through.
MR: Get some of the Summer League team. Have them leave Vegas early to come see the show.
BM: Team-building exercise! Get the Bucks Summer League team down there. You know Nico Mannion, he’s having a good Summer League with the Bucks.
MR: Ben, you really are a basketball fan, I’m impressed.
BM: Yeah, it goes deep.
MR: Anything else that you guys want to share ahead of the show this week?
BM: I’m just going to make one final push for the Milwaukee Bucks Summer League team to attend our show at Turner Hall Ballroom.
MR: You want Tacko Fall in the front row, right?
BM: I would love to get Tacko there.
JH: I would just say, come out to the show. It’s gonna be a really fun time and it’s kind of like the kickoff for the whole tour, so it’s going to be extremely exciting, and we can’t wait. We’re so excited to come to the city and check it out…and do the river cruise.
Please Don’t Destroy comes to Turner Hall on Thursday, July 13. You can listen to a longer version of this interview on the “Host And Guest” podcast.