Foley and McColl have frequently been reported as saying that they met in Paris around 1987 when they were learning to be clowns at the school of Philippe Gaulier (with both leaving after a month when they ran out of money).
"[5] They were described early on in terms such as "one of Britain's most promising young clown theatre companies"[6] and "[t]he multilingual clowning theatre company [that] specialises in brash physical comedy that is part mime, part slapstick and can just about be traced back to the traditions of the commedia dell'arte".
[8] McColl, commenting later on 1980s trends in "physical theatre" based around schools such as those of Philippe Gaulier and Jacques Lecoq in Paris, said, "The difference for us is that we hitched ourselves more to vaudeville and variety.
"[1] Stop Calling Me Vernon was about a fading vaudeville duo, practicing their old gags whilst waiting for their next big break.
Foley and McColl were loyal collaborators with others, working consistently with behind-the-scenes partners over the years including director Jozef Houben, from 1991-2001,[10] designer Alice Power, from 1991-2006[11] and songwriter Chris Larner, from 1992-2000.
[12][13] Through these collaborators, and others such as co-performer Micheline Vandepoel,[14] The Right Size have links to physical theatre companies such as Complicite and Spymonkey.