“A true departure from run-of-the-mill improv comedy shows, The Noise Next Door approach is highly structured, with a different themed show coming to the Edinburgh Fringe each year. This August the boys tackle Chaos Control, a show with a secret agent theme.
Working their way through a series of secret missions, “protecting mankind, kicking ass and bagging sexy chicks” en route, the scenes and particularly songs can feel slightly formulaic but the combination of improv games and narrative lifts this performance above what you might expect from an improv sketch show.
The audience I saw the show with provided a poor crop of suggestions for the team to work with, their contributions ranging from the overtly crude to the boring, but the boys made the most of a bad lot. Never afraid of a howling pun or a smattering of innuendo, watching the colour coded improvisers and guitarist constantly out doing each other and challenging one another to be even more absurd is a pleasure. “
****(Andrew Girvan)
