The success of the TV show “Thank God You’re Here” is hopefully a sign of the increasing popularity of live improvised comedy in Australia. I can only hope this leads to more festival shows like 160 Characters being developed in the future.
Talented Josh Lawson, Daniel Cordeaux and Nikki Parry, all from the aforementioned TV show, along with Australian National Improv Champions Monique Dykstra and Brett Wood, make up the cast. The lightening quick speed of their wit and imagination is matched only by the perfectly timed sound effects and appropriate backing soundtracks provided by musician, Gep Blake.
The premise of this show relies on audience members sending text messages that they have received to an onstage mobile phone. These are then read out aloud by a performer and within moments, an entirely new scene is played out before us. On the night I attended, messages ranged from a romantic exclamation of love, to a chain mail death threat involving a rabid bunny. I was amazed at how the performers could produce a 10 minute scene including a rhyming song out of something as simple as the day’s temperature.
With the performer’s high energy, you can’t help but get swept up in the myriad of different worlds they create. Considering that each cast member doesn’t know what their next line is until almost the instant it’s exiting their mouth, their experience is obvious by the fact that they don’t seem to miss a beat for the whole hour.
‘Starring’ roles within each scene are rotated but all performers joined together for a finale. However, if anybody felt they had something to add at any time, they could chime in to add another character or plot twist.
Working together as a team ensured that every scene featured at least one memorable nugget of comedy gold. With no script, it is all about knowing when to stop, so the fun is in seeing how they reach each absurd conclusion and manage to somehow link it into the original message.
Any form of improvised comedy is a refreshing change from the (at times) predictable medium of stand up, and there’s no chance here of hearing jokes repeated year after year because every night produces a completely unique show.
‘160 Characters’ is performed nightly until the 28th of April at The Bosco Theatre. See the Festival Website for booking details.