Improv

Nine Days, Six Shows, Three Rehearsals, and Up & Down on the Thameslink like a Lost Cockney Yo-Yo

The legend has it that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. [1] Doing silly shows while WWIII kind of lurches into terrifying possibility in the background is probably the modern equivalent of this myth, even if this means comparing myself to an all-powerful Roman Emperor rather than just some guy. And really: I’m just some guy.… Read more

March 5, 2026

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jamesofwalsh

in

Brighton, Brighton Folk Choir, cities, comedy, Diary, folk, Improv, London, Next Level Sketch, Places, Sketch Comedy, The Highchurches, This Machine Kills Wasps

Duck Duck Goose, folk, Improv, indie, music, Next Level Sketch, Not Suitable For Beebies, Sketch Comedy, The Highchurches, The Krayzies, This Machine Kills Wasps, Writing
Guesting with The Krayzies at Hoopla Improv Mixer Night

I write from a smoky Thameslink train stuck at East Croydon. We are non-moving for one of two reasons: either the ongoing signal failures, or the guy in the back carriage with the massive reefer has set off the internal fire alarms. Or possibly both? [1] I just had a really fun evening at Hoopla… Read more

February 11, 2026

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

Acting, Diary, Improv, London, theatre

comedy, Hoopla Impro, Improv, London
Thomas Crapper and a toilet seat made from the Elgin Marbles

I’ve been up and down to London like a cockney yo-yo the past few days. Thursday: a sketch rehearsal at Theatre Deli in the city, followed by a show at Hoopla Impro in London Bridge with some visiting pals (one a big improv enthusiast) from Istanbul. Friday: an improv session with an experienced improviser, Melissa… Read more

January 26, 2026

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jamesofwalsh

in

art, comedy, Diary, Improv, London

Editing, Hoopla Impro, Mr Crapper, Writing
An Englishman, an Irishman, and a Scotswoman

“Don’t ruminate”, advised my teammate, Nick. Good and kind advice, but he might as well have told me not to breathe – my ADHD is of the “extremely sensitive to what people think of me” kind. So here’s what happened. I did my first improv show of the year with my troupe, Not Suitable For… Read more

January 14, 2026

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jamesofwalsh

in

Diary, Improv

Hoopla Impro, Not Suitable For Beebies
The Return To The Land Of Zero Consequences

She is somewhere in the citySomewhere watching televisionWatching people being stupidDoing things she can’t believe in Pulp – Sheffield: Sex City Ten months ago, I applied to be in a Hoopla Impro house team, then forgot all about it. I didn’t even turn up to the audition. Oh well, my life was heading in a… Read more

September 14, 2025

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

comedy, Diary, Improv
Next Level Sketch with Soft Play Area, Luke Rollason, and The Awkward Silence

A late write up of a very enjoyable show, so please forgive the fragmented recollections as the near-distant past retreats into the fog of hearsay and memory. Something very unusual happened at the April NLS: most of our audience didn’t show up. Ticket sales were very healthy indeed, and I told all and sundry –… Read more

May 3, 2025

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

cities, comedy, Diary, Improv, London, Next Level Sketch, Sketch Comedy

Hoopla Impro, London, Luke Rollason, Next Level Sketch, Sketch Comedy, Soft Play, the awkward silence
Next Level Sketch at Improv At The Glitch, with Noises From The Attic

No March show for us at Hoopla, as Steve and the lads were overburdened with end of course shows, turning us into travelling sketch comedy rōnin, willing to perform on any stage in exchange for a bowl of rice. Mercifully for our hungry bellies Noises From The Attic, an improv troupe featuring our own Alex… Read more

April 1, 2025

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

comedy, Diary, Improv, Next Level Sketch, Sketch Comedy

comedy, London, Next Level Sketch, Sir Kier Starmer, Sketch Comedy, The Glitch
Next Level Sketch with Camilla Borges, Ali Brice and Rob Duncan

Is there a link between audience size and performance quality? Laughter is a contagion, and logic suggests that a packed room = punters giving themself the permission to let go. And so: a great atmosphere, and performers raising their game accordingly. The answer, after five years of hosting alternative comedy shows, is I’m really not… Read more

February 22, 2025

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

comedy, Diary, Improv, Next Level Sketch, Sketch Comedy

Ali Brice, Camilla Borges, Hoopla Impro, London, Next Level Sketch, Rob Duncan, Sketch Comedy
Gigs, songs, and David Bowie at Leslie Bloom’s 1983 live Christmas TV spectacular

Two more gigs to document, amid a busy week of singing, learning, and performing, in all senses of that most changeling of words. On Wednesday I cycled up a very big hill, through wind and hail, to sing alongside four wonderful humans in a practice for the recording of a song on Jo Burke’s forthcoming… Read more

December 22, 2024

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jamesofwalsh

in

Brighton, comedy, Diary, Improv, The Highchurches

Brighton, David Bowie, extra topping, Leslie Bloom
“I realised, this isn’t me – it’s Leslie”: an interview with Simon Topping

For this week’s “interviewing someone doing something cool in Brighton” [2] section of the Indie Brighton Listings, I interviewed Simon Topping, who runs Extra Topping Comedy. I’ve known Simon a while now, and am a massive fan of both his character comedy and his ability to curate an ever-interesting lineup. I caught up with him in… Read more

November 11, 2024

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by

jamesofwalsh

in

Brighton, comedy, Diary, Improv, interviews, journalism, Places, Sketch Comedy

alternative comedy, Brighton, extra topping, Extra Topping Comedy, Leslie Bloom, Simon Topping