Excerpt: "
The structure of the show has been well thought through, and the witty ripostes and one liners that the cast are surprisingly adept at pulling out of the various situations are complemented by the variety of situations and dramatic techniques used."
A Bristol University based improv
group, Bristol Improv for Hire was part of the 2012 Edinburgh Festival’s PBH’s
Free Fringe. Their skit revolves around four different tests for four
prospective employees. Audience engagement is high: our suggestions determine
the focus of each of these tests and, as we watch each ‘employee’ battle with
their task, we are engaged by the task masters in different ways. The structure
of the show has been well thought through, and the witty ripostes and one
liners that the cast are surprisingly adept at pulling out of the various situations
are complemented by the variety of situations and dramatic techniques used. The
impressive variety spans from ‘should have said’, to a human slide show, to
rewinds/fast-forwards of a scene.
Although there were no ‘ums’, or
corpsing on stage (though plenty of it off stage), and although we were
entertained throughout, the whole set did still feel amateur. The cast should
have been more discerning with words they chose from the audience (the
rewinding scene in particular was pretty dull, although their memory was
impressive). Although the allocation of characters at the beginning was a good
idea, apart from ‘Sparkles’ the characteristics were never particularly funny
or extreme to start with and they all but disappeared as the scenes went on.
Well worth a visit for a free
fringe show, and fully deserving of their full audience, but the whole thing
definitely lacked a bit of pizzazz.
To find out more about the group, see the Bristol Improv for Hire facebook page or to find out more about this production go to the Ed Fringe website.
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