Back for its sixth iteration, the Edinburgh International Improv Festival is here to charm, entertain and mildly confuse. Taking place over four days, it has shows, workshops and jams. The 6-7pm performance on Saturday evening introduced us to two companies, Ghost Fish, for Glasgow and Redacted (formerly Drunk) Theatre Company, from LA. 

At 6:00 pm exactly, the hosts barged onto the stage brimming with excitement. They warmed up the audience for the performers and jokingly reminded them:  “Don’t heckle!”. But there was no need to: people were incredibly energetic and enthusiastic, the jokes barely had time to land and the crowd was already laughing. 

The first show was brought forth by Ghost Fish in the format of short sketches. In an entertaining opening, they asked the audience for a word and someone promptly said up “plate”. Segments were largely independent but thematically linked to each other, and there were running jokes and gags throughout. The Tesco aficionado was particularly memorable with Father Christmas-esque Uncle Tesco joining in. Physical comedy got quite a few laughs with a notable lamb-birthing scene. While there were some quiet and some tense moments, the exchanges flowed pretty well and the show was fun. 

The promise to see comedians drink 5 shots and then do drunk theatre (as per the company’s Instagram) could unfortunately not be realised due to Scotland’s strict licensing laws, and the drunk Theatre Company was renamed Redacted Theatre Company for tonight. Their performances however remained consistently powerful. With only four people on stage, they brought to life an entire story where (most) things made sense. Asking for a prompt from the audience, they were offered “I hurt my toe”, and delivered a delightful, well-paced academic-homicidal adventure. Characters came to life before our eyes with janitors, students, a dean, and even a DJ. The dynamics and chemistry between performers seemed effortless, and they bounced off each other leaving little time for thought. Soon, the setting became the University of Edinburgh. It was then extremely entertaining to watch Americans talking about fraternity parties in that setting. The amount of characters and locations that were developed did lead to some confusing moments, which most times contributed to the charm but once or twice were harder to follow. However, a coherent plot developed and they got us from the hurt my toe prompt to a triple homicide by broadsword interestingly fast. Talented performers and quick wit made for a disarmingly enjoyable night.