It's not that The Improverts aren't funny. Occasionally they are, a fair bit of the time they deserve at least a smirk. But the rest of the time they're predictable, their comic timing is off or the pressure of improvised comedy seems to become too much.The idea is simple enough, and certainly not unique. A group of comedians-cum-sketch actors play a number of 'games', the premise for each set by audience suggestions, and scenes continue for a set amount of time until somebody from the troupe calls time and they move on. Predictably, for a group of five men, humour often ends up being either sexual or slapstick. Easy forms of comedy that guarantee laughs, sure, but also laboured. You can see it coming from a mile off.We're greeted by an over-emphatic MC, who explains how it all works before introducing the rest of the Improverts themselves. The night I went, the first game was a storytelling one, where four of the group would stand in a line facing the audience, and each speak for as long as the fifth member has his hand on their head. Make a mistake and the audience will cry "Die!" and you will be knocked out. Simple enough, but the Improverts seemed to become so caught up in trying not to get caught out, that they forgot to be funny. It was slow, boring and uninteresting.Is it ever too soon to make a joke? Some comedians will tell you no, because if you don't get the material out there, someone else will. An audience suggestion for 'cops' during the 'Alien Interview' game led to the entire game being based around the London riots - on the day they spread from Tottenham to other parts of the capital. I'll let you be the judge of whether it was all a bit early.The Improverts might be predictable, and they might have their distasteful moments, but they are sometimes funny. Catch it if you have nothing else to watch, but certainly don't stay up so you can make it to Bedlam after midnight.
