Fringe review: PAUL MERTON AND SUKI WEBSTER’S IMPROV SHOW, Pleasance Courtyard
There are some artistes that we regularly associate with both improvisation and the Edinburgh Fringe and the popularity of Paul Merton with his years of experience is clear as a huge crowd puller to the large Pleasance Grand fills to capacity . Merton was a regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the UK from 1988 to 1999 and has been performing at the Fringe since 1985.
His wife and comedy partner Suki Webster has been doing improv for nearly 30 years. The games and formats are well established and responses tried and tested. There is a sense that these days it is not as much improv but recalling a bit of business from their repertoire at a prompt from the audience. It is an established formula and they know what works. If you have never seen it before, you can admire the techniques and enjoy the comic moments.
Interestingly, they reject suggestions that they have done recently and it seems the large audience intimidated many to make suggestions. As always, audiences members ideas are not as original or funny as they think and the cast have to work sometimes to get the most from them.
At the Fringe this year, they are joined by veteran improv star Mike McShane and actress Rachel Parris in the games. The best games are seeing Paul Merton trying to work out that he was a scuba diver allergic to water wearing a polka dot bikini while holding a stop go sign. He did seem genuinely bewildered until the clues became more obvious!
They also got someone from the audience to move them into positions to tell a story, voiced each other's movements and told of a pole vaulting panda by a three-way spilt personality expert before ending a story with punchlines pre-written by the audience. There is undoubted skill in improv and these have plenty of experience but it felt this time rather staid and unadventurous, an easy money earner with no real danger. It works but we felt a little disappointed by the end.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne