★★★★★

Gilded Balloon (Venue 14) | 19:30, 22:30 | £14 |

If there is one thing I have been enjoying most of all at this years Fringe it has been improvised shows. They make you feel as if you are seeing something special, which will never be seen again. Showstopper! The Improvised Musical is one of the most impressive that I have seen. By it’s very nature a musical is hard to pull off, it needs fancy lighting, neatly worded rhymes, tight instrumentation and a synchronisation that you don’t need in some other improvised shows.

As soon as you walk in you know this is going to be a good show, the exceptional backing musicians play in the audience as they take their seats, following an introduction from the ‘writer’ of our new musical he asks the audience for suggestions of settings, musical styles and other details. The lights go down the band strike up and then they are off and running. 

There’s no point in me telling you plot details as ‘Me, Myself, And Samurai’ will never be seen again, but it is safe to say I had a ball.

Yes, the musical you will see is in no way polished, yes, some dialogue will make no sense, yes, the actors will probably corpse. However, all of this will make you enjoy it more. The audience laugh with the corpsing actors, not at them, and applaud the obscure directions the musical takes.

I am envious of how quick the actors and musicians can pull rhymes, melody and plot out of thin air. It makes me wonder what takes up Andrew Lloyd Webber’s time if The Showstoppers can do it in 60 minutes?

The Showstoppers will be performing at the Gilded Balloon at various times from the 19th to 24th of August (Not Thurs) for details and tickets click HERE.