Set in the lab of a mad scientist, It Came From Somewhere Else was an impro show that fully embraced the spirit of 50s B Grade science fiction movies. The lighting was suitably spooky with mainly red hue and low set lamps. Our host Sandy, the lab assistant, guided us through the show where the improvising “Test Subjects” would perform, culminating in the creation of an improvised movie.
The performers started out with a number of standard impro exercises (the tests) that were each given the a B Movie twist. As with most improvised comedy, the humour was hit and miss but it was an enjoyable. A scene where the audience were required to react to cue cards was a little difficult for the audience to simultaneously follow the action and keep an eye out for their next cue. The audio dubbing of a classic B Movie clip got a little bogged down in the actors trying to match lips. A musical impro segment (always the most difficult format to pull of successfully) was light on laughs and suffered from not utilising those with the strongest singing voices.
The main feature was set up by spinning the “Wheel of Doom” to select the specific type of Sci Fi movie. Each performer was randomly given cards that gave them their character type and trait (ie. A beautiful alien). After obtaining a villan type from the audience the fun began.
The crew from Edge Improv did a fairly good job in performing. There was the occasional line trod on, some talking over one another and the odd unexpected item thrown in the keep them on their toes, but generally they bounced off well. There were times when the actors seemed preoccupied with justifying their lines rather than progressing the story however they were able to eventually get back on track. A large array of inventive props helped the team to bring life to the scenes and musical backing from a guitarist was appropriate in setting moods.
I noticed that Sandy seemed to be giving the cues to end the scenes rather than allowing the actors to decide when the scene had run its course. During the “Movie” she gave a few stage directions that were rather intrusive and unnecessary which may have been timing cues to keep things on track and within the hour duration of the show.
It Came From Somewhere Else was a fun hour of improvised that managed to provide enough laughs to keep a smile on your face.
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