Improvised comedy is a black art. Doing it well demands not just wit but an ability to integrate the spontaneous ingredients. Allcock have some wit.
Your average improv group will play games which are seeded with material from the audience and from themselves. Alcock take initial suggestions and thereafter exclude the audience from influencing the scene. This wouldn’t be so bad except they often allow themselves and each other to carry on in a rut, and some jokes are stretched to breaking point.
In one game, for example, one member has to guess three things the audience said while the others give him clues. It’s pretty linear, everything they say gravitates to something that’s already been decided.
Even when the scene is in freeform they often ignore opportunities. At one point someone has their brother on the far end of a kite – and nobody bothered to act the brother. That’s half of the scene never happening at all, half of the potential jokes sidelined. This kind of neglect is typical; their jokes, once started, are generally inflexible.
Perhaps this is a bit harsh. Their climactic scene comes together nicely and matured as it grows, but it’s very telling that the funniest part is a single word an audience member says. It’s possible for improv to be so, so much better. Go see Improverts instead.
2/5 
Bernie Greenwood
