While on paper The Both might seem like an odd musical pairing, the natural chemistry between its co-songwriters, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo, was the real highlight of Friday night’s show at the 9:30 Club.

The songwriting veterans — who shared the stage at The Birchmere back in 2012 when Leo opened a string of dates on Mann’s tour in support of Charmer — could barely hold back the banter long enough to get to the music that brought people to the show. The whole thing felt more like an episode of The Best Show on WFMU (strangely enough, that’s where they met) or an episode of VH1 Storytellers minus the self-congratulatory song exploration.

The low stakes affair highlighted the duo’s comedy prowess as well as their music chops. Between highlights from their self-titled releases like the joyful “Milwaukee” or the call to arms “Volunteers Of America,” Leo and Mann riffed back and forth on backstage graffiti, Lord of the Rings and a hilarious interaction with Jeb Bush, among other things. And while this would have expected to grow tiresome — they even joked about how they went 20-minutes between songs in San Francisco — it came off as oddly endearing and almost expected by the end of the night.

The duo also dedicated a portion of the set to their individual fans. Mann showcased some of her best work in “Save Me” and ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” while Leo used the opportunity to play the unreleased “Lonsdale Avenue” as well as recent favorite “Bottled In Cork.” That casual interaction between the stage and audience led to one of more unexpected experiences of the night during the duet of Mann’s “Red Vines,” when Leo borrowed an audience member’s reading glasses to use an iPhone to look up the lyrics. It was a bit clunky, but the much like the rest of the night, the music and humor of the site on stage carried the performance.