WHEN so many things go wrong they make a right, you know the music Gods are firmly rooting for you from their fluffy cloud in Olympia.

From turning an accidental hostage situation into a career opportunity to landing the Royal Opera House as a launchpad after a mad scramble for a ‘last-minute’ venue, double-act Worbey and Farrell’s tribulations (and extraordinary luck) would no doubt make a fit plot for Steve Martin’s next wacky comedy.

“It was a series of accidents that really took care of themselves,” says Kevin Farrell with a cheeky laugh. “In many ways we started off fraudulently. We don’t question it.”

Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell met while studying at the Royal College of Music. The classical pianists pursued separate careers – Steven as a musician and voiceover actor and Kevin as a film composer. Their artistic paths collided 12 years ago when they were inadvertently locked in a flat with only a grand piano (and well-stocked bar) to stave off boredom. That afternoon they decided to form a “four hands, one piano” act.

“We just got drunk and came up with a new career,” he sums up. “Everything kind of fell into place. We put a 45-minute programme together and I got the film company I was working for to film the show but we couldn’t find a venue. A friend of ours said ‘Why don’t you do it where I work?’ and that was the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

“The DVD was made of us playing live and, of course, an American booker got hold of the DVD, thought we were already famous and we got a year’s worth of work out of it.”

Exploding the stuffy recital format, the pianists created a stand-up meets concerto hybrid, with an eclectic repertoire of classical arrangements, pop anthems, show tunes and even the odd rap number interspersed with gags and full-blown comedy. They have also been known to mix cocktails while tickling the keys.

The ‘choreography’ of their hands as they crisscross and scuttle over keyboard during the show is filmed and projected on a large screen. “Recitals used to bore us to death,” he says. “It’s all very pompous; the conductor will come on stage and look like he’s going to a funeral.

“Having the comedy element helps us to get the confidence of the audience and introduce them to things they wouldn’t normally listen to.

“We’re at home playing Lady Gaga as well as the 1812 Overture: good music is good music. We’re very serious about the music. We don’t like to dumb it down and some of the arrangements take a year to do. But it’s done in a fun way and we don’t take ourselves seriously.”

There is no risk of dozing off at a Worbey and Farrell show. As well as stage mixology, for a time the duo ended the production with a spectacular indoors fireworks display. Unfortunately the finale backfired, literally, engulfing the crowd in a cloud of smoke.

“We were a bit too adventurous with it and nobody would be able to see anything in the theatre in the end so we had to stop,” chuckles Kevin.

The duo initially went by the tongue-twisting moniker, Katzenjammer after a cartoon strip featuring two mischievous little boys. But a trip to Austria forced them rethink the name.

“We realised that there it means “misery and depression” so we decided we had to get rid of it. Funny enough there is a Norwegian girl band called that now and a bar. We like to think we were ahead of our time in terms of names.”

Since their fortuitous launch show at the Royal Opera House, they have toured the world (“Once we had a last-minute booking in Papua New Guinea and that particular week we had performed at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Newark Palace Theatre and Berwick upon Tweed – you can’t make it up,” he quips). They were voted one of the Top 10 shows by Time Out at the Edinburgh Festival last summer and are regulars on BBC Radio 3.

And fans hail from far and wide. They were invited to open for Micky Rooney, who had seen a clip of the show on YouTube, in Chicago on his 89th birthday and they count Lorna Luft, Judy Garland’s daughter as a close friend.

But fame has also yielded a rather strange breed of nifty groupies. One particularly crafty admirer has taken to stitching tapestry portraits of the duo.

“Some of them have got 46,000 stitches – it’s quite impressive,” he says. “We were kind of taken aback the first time. I’m sure she’s working on one now. We never quite know when she’s going to turn up with a new tapestry. You get all these kinds of eccentrics but this is what you want really, loyal fans.”

The musicians share more than a piano: they work, tour, go on holiday and even live together. This, Kevin believes is the secret to their longevity.

“We were given a word of advice by our friend Chris Jarvis, who said, ‘So many double acts fall out, what you have to do is look after each other’. Without Steven I’m useless and I think it’s the same for him.

“I can’t imagine us not living together. We might be coming upwith an idea at midnight; we work whenever we need to and if we weren’t living together we’d be obstructed by a schedule which is not great for creativity.”

He hastens to add: “But we are both single so if there’s anybody out there with proposals of marriage please let us know.”

Worbey and Farrell will perform at the Arts Centre on January 22 at 7.30pm. To book call 01793 524481 or visit swindontheatres.co.uk.