Reprising their show Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised are Daniel Roberts, Tom Skelton, Chris Turner and Dougie Walker; together they make up Racing Minds, returning to the Fringe for their 4th year. The basic concept is that Skelton reads a story to his grandchildren but fails to remember the exact details of said story. This is where the audience comes into play, providing a dark secret, a location and a name for the whole funny charade whilst being rewarded with Werthers Originals for their efforts. It’s a tried and true formula that once again fails to disappoint.
The particular details of the show I saw included the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, mountaineers and a man who had an uncanny ability to control machinery remotely. Whilst funny throughout, I couldn’t help but feel that many of the laughs came from fortuitous mistakes rather than from the quality of the improvisation. However, an aspect that was consistently good was the live music provided by the pianist at the back of the stage. It was the perfect accompaniment to the chaos on stage and helped keep the mood of the scenes when the performers sometimes lost it.
If you are a particular fan of improvised comedy then you could do much worse that checking out this clever, chaotic and charismatic piece.
