Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show review (original) (raw)

Husband and wife duo Paul Merton and Suki Webster are experts at the improv game, as are their audiences, writes Ashley Davies

Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show ★★★

Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

“Depression!” yells a delighted man when the team on stage at Paul Merton and Suki Webster’s Improv Show asks the audience for an example of a downbeat emotion.

The husband and wife duo have been doing this for long enough to know how to turn the crowd’s suggestions into brand-new sketches with apparent ease, and they’ve come armed with plenty of ideas for plot set-ups. Sections of the audience, meanwhile, know exactly what’s required of them and contribute to the fun with gusto.

For each show Webster and regular BBC Radio 4 fixture Merton are joined by some guests, and today it’s Whose Line Is It Anyway? veteran Mike McShane and Austentatious stalwart Charlotte Gittins, both of whom are experts at playing along and creating stories, particularly when singing is required. Kirsty Newton adds atmosphere with fluent keyboard accompaniment, which is particularly fun when they’re playing with film genres.

For all their quick thinking, some of the sketches are a little long, and the more successful elements are those with more punch. Examples include a game in which storytelling duties are passed from one performer to another (at the command of Newton), and a challenge to have a conversation with each sentence beginning with a consecutive letter of the alphabet.

Until 19 August