Off The Cuff

Upstairs at the Three and Ten, 2010, Brighton

Imagine a small room, six performers, one hour of improvisation and an on stage pirate narrator, and you will begin to understand the bizarre world of Off the Cuff. Audience participation (acting as the script writers) is crucial in this unique ensemble of weird and wacky party games brought to life on stage. Indeed, by the audience demanding what shape the scene will, the sense of excitement is heightened. (A performer was told to tell the story of Robin Hood through the mind-set of 'chick lit', whilst another was asked to rap it.)

Comedic moments are never absent in this production, and the raw cut throat nature of live performance is ever present; some jokes work, some don't. But luckily, the sex comedians were talented, and I found my cheeks and stomach aching by the end. Although all the scenes were innovative, fresh and sharp, a few stood out as really special. One of them, a scene based loosely around wink murder (where one character knows something the others don't) was by far the funniest. The set up was this: the 'murder' was taken off stage (so as he couldn't hear) and the two interrogators were left on stage. The audience then decided who the killer killed, where he killed, and with what he killed. The murderer was then brought back on stage and had to guess what the interrogators knew, what his crime was. In this instance, he was being charged for killing Celine Dion, on the Titanic, with a spade. Explaining it now makes it sound disjointed, random and bizarre, all of which is certainly true of the real experience, but it is also hysterically funny too.

Credit must be given to these comedians, as I did not envy their position of being at the front of the firing line - the audience were honest, there were no unnecessary claps or generous giggles. The improvisation of it all made me giddy with excitement and was a completely refreshing take on the often rehearsed comedy available today.