The Noise Next Door: OtherWorld – Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Improvisational comedy is something I am usually very wary of; at constant risk of looking contrived, and too regularly requiring the comedians to work the unworkable and keep it funny. But, despite my initial reservations, The Noise Next Door are rare in that they are not just a good improv group, but they are a brilliant one. All five of them carry their weight, and they have clearly been working together for a while as they all effortlessly set up some brilliant punchlines for each other, which the audience appreciates rapturously.
As I said, the most obvious pit-fall of an improv show is it coming across as contrived, and too structured, but with The Noise Next Door, this is not a problem. Working on the incredibly loose narrative that they have landed on a mysterious planet, the only obvious constant in the show was the nature of the games they’d play.
All in all, it’s a great show that made me eat my words about improv.
****
