Bright and sparky comedy group Fat Kitten take the art of improvisation to a whole new level in what they call a ‘vicious improv match to the death’. Taking on Lizard Brain, a group of young men dressed as OAPs, they battled it out through a variety of different games, taking audience suggestions to fuel every sketch and scenario they attempted to deliver. It’s fast-paced and sometimes a little bit hectic but this only adds to the entertainment value of the show overall.
So how do you start off an improv battle to the death in a venue which is packed to the rafters? That’s right, you dive into the audience and attempt to hi-five every member from the front row to the bar. It wasn’t a race and there were no real winners (who could keep count?) but it started off the show with a bit of fun. The host, a wild-haired man, got the games started with Move On. Two members act out a sketch until the host sees fit to call on them to ‘Move on’ whilst keeping one aspect of their previous sketch.
The second game, Emotional Rollercoaster, saw just two members of Fat Kitten take the stage. After being kept in a soundproof room, the two comedians were given a scenario to take through a whole variety of ups and downs as the host gives each a different emotion suggested earlier by the audience. Watching them adapt and struggle was just as entertaining and comical as when they succeeded so it was a win/win for both them and the audience either way.
Lizard Brain then offered up their music skills by taking suggestions of the weirdest, funniest Fringe show name and making up a song about it on the spot. The results? A messy myriad of hilarious half-cooked lyrics and failed harmonising attempts. The audience loved it.
After a questions-only game with both groups – which was highly entertaining if only for the fun of catching each member out when they respond with a statement – Lizard Brain were back with a game where the four members take four incredibly funny and random sketches and go back and forth between each one, trying to remember where they left off.
A freeze tag game saw both groups begin to refer back to jokes from previous games which the audience recognise, bringing everything full circle. Fat Kitten have honed their art well and they serve to prove that, no matter how well or badly things go, the possibilities are essentially endless.
