Got Any Space For A Monkey?
If you're looking for the latest new trend in Edinburgh then improvised comedy is it.
For the first time this year it will have a separate listing and will be included in the vast array of entertainment offered at the annual cultural festival.
Comedians are like pop stars to me and I look back on the 1970's with great nostalgia. If The Two Ronnies, Barker and Corbett grace our screens then I view them with dewy, rose-coloured spectacles.
One of the first sitcoms that I remember was Steptoe and Son with Harry H. Corbett as the rag and bone man and his lecherous father, played by Wilfred Bramble. Bramble's character is forever calling out to his son, Harold. A catchphrase, one of the hooks of comedy. Bramble also appeared in The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. In the film George Harrison is asked by a reporter what he calls his haircut. Given that in 1964 anything approaching the collar in hair length was long for a man, then Harrison's cheeky Scouse reply was that he called his hair cut "Arthur".
Using the same logic the late Del Close was asked what he called his new improvised art form and he said "Harold". Close created the Harold out of a series of games, techniques and scenes he developed whilst working in San Francisco in the late 1960s with a well-known troupe called The Committee.
On a nationwide basis the comedy circuit is very well established and like any performing art it is constantly changing. If you go and see a stand-up comedian, it is mostly a rehearsed piece and like all humour is highly subjective. Last summer I treated the family to an evening of my up-to-date favourite Miranda Hart, she has been a ray of sunshine to me and has also had me in stitches.
With improvised comedy out goes the observations on life and in comes a completely different structure and approach that can be done solo but is usually delivered as a team performance. Another layer of comedy is added by using the truth, the ability to create improv out of vulnerability and honesty. The connection amongst the team of players is refreshing and a hark back to the travelling theatre companies of yesteryear where the synergy of teamwork is infused with passion and fun.
There is a large growing trend towards Improvised comedy in the UK and it is very prolific in Bristol. One such performer is Nathan Keates who has formed his own improv company, appropriately entitled Space Monkeys.
The Space Monkeys have a regular monthly stint on the first Thursday of every month at The Old Fish Market pub on Baldwin Street in Bristol. When I went to go and see them, the show started with a Monologist who asked the audience for a word to start him off. One suggestion was escalator. The monologist said that as a child, he only went on them accompanied by his Mother and he had been scared of trapping a body part in the mechanism. Immediately two of the company came onto the stage and started to act out a scene. It quickly became obvious that they were living under an escalator and collecting severed human body parts and with much relish. One of the funniest lines came when one of them declared her undying love for the other, proffered an imaginary severed limb and offered him her foot in marriage!
Nathan has been teaching performing arts for a number of years, in and around Bristol and Cardiff and Improvisation is clearly his passion. His workshops create a safe space for individuals to ape about and find their inner joy with unrehearsed improvised performance. But there is an element of structure with improv and it encompasses acting theory, clowning and a lot of the rules of comedy. The basic rules of improv revolve around building a scene and characters that the individual or troupe can latch onto. Nathan teaches his fellow monkeys to find characters quickly and develop voice, posture, attitude that can even involve using miming techniques.
It is also an acting lesson where the company can develop scenes quickly with the minimum use of props. His solo improv show revolves around the antics of a Children's TV Presenter and is entitled Hello Kids. I caught up with him recently at The Bristol Improvisation Theatre in Clifton, where a lot of the pre-fringe shows are being performed. He started off by asking for a word and that forms the basis of how he fills one of his blank children's books. The show was inspired by a workshop he attended that was given by the American clown Jill Bernard.
Nathan said, "Improv is endless, for me I need to explore how that is in every realm." Adding, "I'd like to see improv seen as all other theatre productions are seen and valued."
Three and a half stars is what I would give this act, it is a good value for money show that has a lot of promise and is part of a larger movement of some alternative and very funny comedy.
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1 Comment – Post a comment
Sam Sprout (Editor)
Commented 10 months ago - 14th July 2015 - 14:59pm
From that Twitter thing:
@FeedTheSprout can we add that it's performed 7 -14th Aug, 7 : 50pm @ Thistle hotel. Venue 438. Thanks
— Space Monkeys Improv (@SpaceMonkeysImp) July 14, 2015