Having been invited to watch and review a YouTube recording of a shortened version of the company's improvised musical, my heart sank a little. Improvised shows - good ones - work superbly live, and having watched companies such as Showstoppers a few times, I simply couldn't imagine watching two people alone on stage for 40 minutes performing an improvised narrative with folksie songs accounting to much.
I was wrong. Very wrong.
Susan Harrisan and Justin Brett are seasoned and time-served improvisers having toured and worked with some of the best. Now, along with a couple of excellent musical accompianists Rosie and Curtis, they have branched out on their own and were hoping to have a summer season at Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year... oh well.... So instead, and in order to try and get themselves a little more well known they had a live performance they did pre-coronavirus at London's Boulevard Theatre uploaded to YouTube and invited reviewers to take a look!
They are both engaging and charismatuic performers and work well together. Improvistion of any kind requires a huge amount of trust and respect of and from your fellow players along with a limitless imagination. Harrison and Brett had these in oodles, and were masters at the first golden rule: always accept and never block!
With just two suggestions from the audience the pair went on a journey of self-discovery for a sense of purpose, only to find that what they were looking for was at home all along! The two musicians skillfully helping and shaping the improvised songs with accomplished ease.
Very funny and very clever. These Folk get a huge thumbs up from me, and would love to be able to catch them live once that becomes a possibility.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 13/9/20
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