Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Improv Stuff
★★★★☆
Chris Chibnall wishes he had the imagination of the Any Suggestions team. Night after night the talented bunch churn out improbable and implausible stories based in the worlds of the beloved BBC hit-show Doctor Who, sparked entirely on audience input. With an entire universe at their fingertips, they have a plethora of material to call upon, the love for the franchise evident and ever-present. The silliness of course follows them in whichever adventure they embark upon but somehow the group remain just about in control, proving that they are amongst the top improvisers in Edinburgh.
Hosted impressively by Lewis Dunn, we roll a giant die to choose our Doctor for this evening. Zack is chosen and quickly dashes off to prepare his doctor attire and prep the Tardis. It is then up to the audience to choose the location for our story and to suggest a title. Ours was called ‘Davros’s Day Off’ and was set inside the human body… The cast scramble to create this narrative in front of us complete with wondrous live sound and lighting design, the room electric at the infinite possibilities.
Mishaps are an integral ingredient of improv and this cast owns them wonderfully - mistakes evolve into side-splitting, major plot points that shape our story going forwards. The laughter is non-stop, the natural comedic talent of the ensemble shining bright and bold for the full hour. The pace refuses to relent, the jokes flying thick and fast as if the actors are working on quip-based commission. James Gamblin has a notable turn as Dalek creator Davros as does our doctor Zach Sizer in displaying his impressive yet unusual knowledge of human biology.
It is no surprise to see Any Suggestions continually receive sellout shows and it has been fantastic to see them graduate through steadily increased capacity venues over the past few years. Their wicked talent for harnessing the time vortex and mining it for all its comedic goodness is magnificent. For Doctor Who fans and novices alike, there is so much to enjoy and before long they’ll need venues that are bigger on the inside to accommodate the larger audiences they inevitably deserve. Incredible improv talent.
Running 10-13th, 15-27th - Tickets