The double act effectively flummoxed and bewildered the audience with an array of imaginative improvised scenarios
The Scottish Storytelling Centre, along with other Edinburgh venues, played host to quite the lineup this week commencing its sixth year of the Edinburgh International Improv Fest. Saturday night boasted an impressive double act. Each in turn took to the stage in proper improvisational fashion to a rowdy audience to deliver some utterly ridiculous comedy.
First to the stage were Shetland’s own Imposters who took us on a joyous and measured journey starting with a sandwich and ended with sexual propositioning all at a woman’s wake.
The trio demonstrated excellent comedic timing, impressive wit and had a fun time teasing the narrative out of their fellow troupe members while keeping the audience on their toes. It was expertly done and each had a clear respect for one another as performers and people which gave the whole improv a fun and familial edge. This group has obvious chemistry and trust in one another that can only come from consistent and dedicated work together and it all paid off. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience with just the right amount of second hand embarrassment. The only thing that could have made this group better would be volume as the quieter bits did have a tendency to fade off and get lost in the auditorium at times.
The second act welcomed That Thing We Do, an improv company representing Inconspicuous Comedy in Copenhagen, Denmark. Chaotic and absurd from the beginning, this company had the audience (and one another) in stitches for most of their allotted time. In complete contrast to the Imposters, the troupe took a stream of consciousness approach that jumped from one imaginative scenario to the next. This group was hard to pin down in terms of their comedic style, they simply had fun and their skits moved from general to magical realism to whatever having a disappointing family dinner inside a snicker’s wrapper is. With an audience one word suggestion of “ramshackle” and a quirky beginning narrative about being swindled by not reading the fine print, they were off. An equally delightful display of comedy with a completely different tone, That Thing We Do benefitted from having shameless fun while also encouraging each troupe member’s instincts. Although not every skit was a success, their sense of fun and elaborate callbacks made the chaos all the more enjoyable.
Regardless of their stylistic differences, the double act effectively flummoxed and bewildered the audience in improvised fashion with an array of imaginative scenarios. All the performers kept the audience thoroughly engaged and unsuspecting ready for any bout of madness from any angle.
For more information about the festival, check out the website here.
For more information about shows at the Scottish Storytelling Centre you can find their full season line up and various events offerings here.