|
Written by Rosie Whitehead
|
 It’s a sign of a burgeoning genre that the Shrimps use the abbreviated ‘Improv’ in their title, safe in the knowledge that they will be understood by a public increasingly aware of the comedy form.
Troupes, who a few years previously would be described as ‘a little bit like who’s line is it anyway’, are multiplying almost exponentially at the fringe, and the
Sheffield based group join the fray this year with a run of shows and workshops.
Playing in a cramped room in Sweet Teviot Place, the Shrimps offer various twists of classic improv formats: Performers take on characters and answer questions from the audience, a scene is performed where accents change according to suggestions from the crowd, and a story is narrated switching between various genres of literature.
There is wit on show here and some genuinely funny lines, however, perhaps as a result of inexperience, the performance is consistently let down by poor execution of ideas. Much of the thrill of watching improvised comedy is witnessing the apparent ease with which performers invent, yet time and again the Shrimps fail to disguise the cogs whirring in their brains, often looking blank or leaving dead stage time. Many of the performers also seem to lack rudimentary stage skills (admittedly hampered by the cosy environment), too often addressing themselves solely to each other, shifting about or crowding the stage. Characters are painfully absent from many scenes, with most on stage seemingly fearful of stepping out of their own personas.
Combined, these factors tend to deflate the show, and laughs are sparsely scattered. The Shrimps are convivial hosts and there is promise in their line-up, but they have much to work on.
- Shrimps Improv: Catch of the Day!
- Sweet Teviot Place
- August 11th-24th
- 22:20
|
