Corn Exchange, Ipswich
Mick Perrin/Just for Laughs Live. Two Acts (both 60m approx)
The marvellous Mr. Merton, though noted for his satirical appearances on TV's Have I Got News for You, has actually been knocking out improv sketches with his unsung Comedy Store colleagues for over 20 years, long before his sparring days with Angus Deayton and Ian Hislop - the latter was impersonated during the evening by Paul Merton with relish, although only at the instigation of the audience; it's not generally the Comedy Store Players' style to do impersonations, with this notable exception.
The evening's entertainment was, as ever, completely unscripted, although the performers were all clearly very familiar with the overall format of the exercises.
There are some funny moments of spontaneity, although some of the sketches go on for too long, but this is in the nature of the improvisation, and all the performers know how to put it across with humour and pace. All the suggestions for material came from the audience, for the players to work on as best they could. At half-time for instance, we filled in pieces of paper with suggestions for possible scenarios, and one of mine came out of the hat: "Nurses - in Iceland".
Special mention also for Dave King's suggestion of "an icing piping bag", which gave Mr. Merton a particular handful to try and guess what his character's occupation was: a Fishnet-Trenchcoated man who puts Methane
into Bubble-wrap using an Icing Piping Bag!JS
s: Paul Merton, Mike McShane, Lee Simpson, Suki Webster, Richard Vranch.
The "team bus", on a warm evening inside the Corn Exchange.
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