Excellent hour of long-form improvised comedy – sandwiches and companionship abound with GLB and Yer Da.
Long form improvised comedy is a tough act to get right. It differs from short form improv, where a series of quick-fire theatre games are rapidly cycled through – those of you who watched the UK and US versions of “Who’s Line is it Anyway” on Channel 4 may remember these! Long form improv is based on fewer audience suggestions, with a series of scenes based on one or two suggestions, over a longer period. In tonight’s hour long show, we had two groups – Glasgow institution “Yer Da” and Berlin-based “GLB” performing to a near sell-out crowd, comprised of the general public and their contemporaries. This might be a daunting combination for some, but professionalism from both groups didn’t flicker at any point.
“Yer Da” kicked us off in superb style – a 6 piece group, including the lovely Gareth on keyboard, who was accompanying the scenes. The perils of being in a knowledgeable crowd means that the suggestions are HARD – none of your easy targets here, the team were faced with “cart” this evening.
They performed admirably – we traversed an awkward social encounter in the spaghetti hoops aisle (who hasn’t wished they could tap in a stranger to take our place in a boring conversation?); a careers counsellor who didn’t provide the most informative guidance; Mario Kart sidecars and wayward shells; a very normal market town selling mushrooms, lifelong (or two week) companionship, and Belinda Carlisle song; an unexpected quadruple wedding, and the pain of missing deliveries and unexpected divine intervention. My only criticism is that the keyboard accompaniment could have been a bit louder (but may have been my position in the theatre) as I felt it was a bit lost at times.
I don’t think I could single any of the performers out – the ease of their collaboration spoke volumes of their work together. Being from just down the M8, there was a lovely balance of Scottish cadence and vernacular without ostracising the international audience.
Originally named “Good Luck, Barbara”, our second act GLB are Berlin based, but were quick to explain the lack of native German accents. Asking for the last text the audience had sent, Amy, Josh and Noah had to contend with “7am is also available” – naturally we began with an early airport departure, with an interloping brother joining a honeymooning couple. Freishkäse sandwiches abounded, and reappeared in an hormonally fraught party; a ‘Pre-Crime” police officer; an inadvertant space journey, 2000 miles above Pittsburgh with all the crew suffering daddy issues and crises of confidence; and resulting in the haunting of Penelope Tannenbaum by an impressive Toilet Monster – who knew they were affected by water?! I’m not sure we ever established where 7am was also available, but this did not distract from the enjoyable performances, and suitably appreciated by the audience.
The Edinburgh International Improv Festival finishes on Sunday 3rd March, however, the acts perform and teach improv throughout the year, so it’s well worth looking out for their future performances, and I hope to see them both at next year’s festival, at the very least.