Before the acts even take to the stage the atmosphere anticipating Battle Acts! Present is electric. It seems the show is rapidly en route to becoming something of a cult classic.
The show’s premise rests on interspersing improv games with some of the Fringe’s most exciting fledgling comics. Whilst it’s not reinventing the wheel, the balance between the audience participation ingrained within improv and the incredibly well-selected performers - they really do know their audience - works flawlessly, leaving the crowd both chortling with mirth and eating out the palms of their hands.
The Battle Acts! Improv troupe were welcomed back on stage between acts and were truly masters of their craft with each of the four in possession of a quick wit and excellent comic timing. The games they opted for combined old favourites like ‘New Choice’, with some more quirky additions, ‘Story Die.’ Brilliantly bizarre highlights include an unconventional romance blossoming in Trevor McDonald’s cluttered basement and a job interview for the position of ‘arsonist’ conducted with three unlikely candidates: Marmite, a flammable man, and someone with ‘reverse limbs’.
The evening’s first guest performer, Paco Erhard, opened with the line ‘Well, I’m the German you were promised’ before divulging anecdotes about the real problems with cheap flights and Germany’s odd sense of national pride. By the end of his slot it seemed audience attention was waning but Erhard read the crowd well and left before the restlessness became palpable. He was succeeded by Free Fringe favourite Hiroshi Shimizu, continuing the theme of the alien abroad to great comic effect with his crude wisecracks about the differences between Japanese and British psyche.
After starting with quips about urinal etiquette and Eddie Izzard, concluding act Ant Coleridge professed to have searched his soul and finally found something that would be conquering new territory for a young comedian: sex. Self-deprecating assessment of the originality of his material aside, Coleridge’s material about a list he and his ex-girlfriend wrote of ‘things they would be prepared to do in bed’, whilst undoubtedly pure filth, had the audience howling with laughter.
It wouldn’t be going out on a limb to state that Battle Acts! is one of the most entertaining late night acts at the Fringe.
