Hello!
I’m trying to interview someone who is performing in Brighton or is putting cool stuff on in Brighton every week. This is part of my exciting new gambit, the Indie Brighton listings newsletter.
The only thing is, I feel these interviews need a home that isn’t simply the ethereal madness of the inbox.
So for now, I’m going to post some here, but will set up a proper website for them in due course.
Scoops Improv is tonight, by the way, and then every first Tuesday of the month upstairs at The Actors.
Hello! You’re an excellent monthly improv show with excellent special guests. How would you describe improv to someone without mentioning Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Hello! I’d say it’s like football, but instead of trying to kick a ball into a net you’re trying to delight an audience, and everyone’s on the same team, so there’s a LOT of goals. I can see why people tend to mention Whose Line Is It Anyway.
What sort of thing could a punter who has never been to your show expect from the night, other than the unexpected?
Every show is a different line-up of acts, and it’s usually an eclectic mix of styles. So alongside improv in classic forms we’re all familiar with, there’s often a wildcard act doing something even jaded old improvisers have never seen before.
How did you get into improv in the first place?
I moved to Brighton and needed to make friends. I dipped my foot into improv, loved it, and never looked back.
What do you say to the rumours that improv is in fact a pyramid scheme?
Absolute nonsense. Incidentally if anyone’s interested in running Scoops shows in their own town, they can buy into our franchise model for a mere £60,000.
Other than your good selves, are there any improv acts on the circuit at present you particularly enjoy?
I don’t want to show favouritism among acts that have performed at Scoops, so I’ll mention one that hasn’t – I love Murder, She Didn’t Write, who improvise brilliant and very silly murder mysteries.
I’ve never seen an improv show where they do so much kissing, which I’m keen to bring into all the acts I’m part of.
What’s the Brighton improv scene like? Thriving, moribund, erotic, or middling?
Thriving! AndAlso Improv teach regular courses which bring a constant influx of new improvisers, and they’re currently fundraising for a venue in central Brighton that will house an improv theatre with regular shows, so it’s an exciting time!
Is Brighton a good place for comedy more generally? Do you have any favourite venues or rival happenings?
There’s lots going on! Extra Topping is a monthly show that showcases all forms of comedy except stand-up – so improv, sketch, musical and character comedy, and some brilliant surreal acts. Then we’ve got the Komedia for more traditional comedy offerings, and Brighton Dome for the household names who attract a huge audience.
What are the three most common shouted out suggestions, and why are none of them “Dunstable?”2
“Film noir”3 (if they’re asked for a genre), “Brother and sister” (if they’re asked for a relationship), and “Spatula” (if they’re asked for a household object).
Dunstable only tends to come up if you ask the audience to shout out market towns in Bedfordshire that were likely founded between the 6th and 8th centuries once the early Anglo-Saxons had settled in the area and subdued local Romano-Britons.
Do you enter “flow” state when on stage doing improv and say things and do things before you even realise you’re saying and doing them? Or is your brain permanently a-whirring?
There’s an element of flow state but I try not to submit to it completely. There are practical things to think about during a show – remembering characters’ names, keeping an eye on the time, any set structures of the format you’re performing that you need to adhere to – so the trick is to let half your brain worry about those things without interfering too much with the other half that just wants to be in the moment and play.
Finally: you sometimes do a wonderful show about cowboys. Do you have a favourite cowboy ever? This can be fictional or historical, we don’t mind which.
The only correct answer is Texas Pete from SuperTed.
Scoops Improv takes place upstairs at The Actors on the first Tuesday of every month.
jamesofwalsh 