The Improvisator

Its Not All That Funny

There are many things in this world which make me laugh and smile, and improvised comedy is one of the best things for that. I have recently watched a hilarious show, based loosely around the whose line is it anyway guise, where people are thrown into situations and they have to react to comedic situations as and when they arise. In this particular show, audience participation is encouraged, and it is hilarious to see ordinary people dealing with situations which are largely beyond their control.

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The Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the UK riots

Last August, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe took place during the worst UK riots for many years. The riots began in London and spread to Birmingham, Manchester and numerous other cities in England before coming to an abrupt end as the police doubled their patrols. It was a good opportunity for comedians at the festival to use the rioting for comical purposes, although some media figures believed it may have been too soon to make jokes of the riots when they were still taking place.

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Where are all the comedians?

London seems to be bereft of comedians at the moment; the comedy clubs are churning out the same tired old headliners, if they’re putting on shows at all, there are no major acts touring the big city venues. Where have all the comedians gone?

Of course, I’m kidding. I know exactly where any UK or even international comedian worth his or her salt has headed during the month of August; Edinburgh. The problem is that since I decided a few More

Izzard wizard

Eddie Izzard is surely my favorite comedian at the moment, the thing that seems to get me glued to his comedy acts for many reasons narrows down to his random art of just saying things as it comes to his head. He just seems to blabber anything he wishes and it really works.
However, the secret to Eddie’s success over other comedians is cause of the fact that man speaks a great deal of sense, in between all that jibber More

Those who make us laugh

One of the captions that I love to see in the Readers Digest magazine is ‘laughter: the best medicine’. How else can you get a laugh without comedy? I normally will do anything for a good laugh; that’s just the kind of person I am. A colleague recently asked why I appear so happy all the time. She wanted to know if I have ever had problems at all in my laugh. You can guess my response; if you do More

The importance of improvisation

Improvisation is by far one of the greatest ways in which a story can be created. Whether you happen to be devising a gritty drama set in the backstreets of Soho or is you just want to write a sketch about industrial compensation, in order to get an idea from being a simple thought into an actual performance of sorts, getting it up on it’s feet and improvising can lead to all sorts of amazing results. With comedy you More

Royal Mile melting pot

I could probably quite happily spend all my time in Edinburgh in August just hanging out on the Royal Mile. Not only is that the best place to see some free snippets of shows, enjoy some impromptu theatre or music, pick up a small forests-worth of leaflets about upcoming shows, but you can also just sit outside one of the many bars in this part of town and watch all the tourists go by. Or get yourself a quick Indian More

The Edinburgh Royal mile - at the height of festival time it is truly buzzing

During the months of August and September the Scottish capital celebrates a number of prestigious festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Military Tattoo, the Edinburgh Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. For people who prefer to travel spontaneously (not planning too far ahead!), it is worth noting that the Tattoo Festival is often sold out several months in advance. Meanwhile, such a high number of events is surely beneficial for the city’s tourism More

Funny in any language

I’ve been to Edinburgh every year for the last five years now and, to be honest, I’m getting a bit bored of the whole thing. Sure, it’s a wonderful city and a fabulous festival, but have you ever heard the phrase “too much of a good thing”? Because that’s how I’m starting to feel about the Fringe!
So I’ve been exploring alternative comedy festivals to try out, bearing in mind that London is off the list, seeing as I live More

Adelaide Fringe 2011: A House of Cards

So I put of my email marketing to go see the improve play ‘House of Cards’. This is a production by a group of students motivated by the different card suits in a deck and using them to present each short play.

‘Hearts’ inspired the first play and is about an assassin and her clumsy and panicky assistant who go through a number of wrongful and hilarious situations. The play offers the audience funny More