Review by Annie Aslett
Improv comedy is a difficult skill – the best improv comics make it look easy. Unfortunately, today’s production of Spontaneous Potter reminds us how tricky this medium really is. The premise is solid gold: take suggestions from the audience for a new show, Harry Potter and the [blank]. The cast are left with two absolute gifts from a wide range of suggestions: Harry Potter and the Great British Bake Off or Harry Potter and the Strategy Away Day, both brimming with promise and easy wins. The latter wins a resounding majority in the audience poll, at least 50% of whom we can assume are Potterheads, who would be content to hear obscure HP references for an hour. This should be impossible to miss.
The level of comedy would be perfect for kids, except for the f-bombs and drug references, which add little but make it difficult to recommend this show for families. Silliness is to be expected at an improv show based on Harry Potter; however, silliness for silliness’ sake with negligible punchlines (or even particularly good Harry Potter references) makes for an awkward and drawn-out hour.
Cameron Dee and Paul Connolly hamstring the cast at every turn – their introduction of Fawkes and Guy the Phoenixes, mute save their screeches, were barely funny to begin with and certainly didn’t bear entering and monopolizing most scenes. Castmates Mara Joy and Emily Brady try their best to work with this infantile display. Joy and Brady give us a glimpse of what this show could be in their scenes as Ron and Hermione, and they are valiant in their attempts to bring wit and relevance to the rapidly spiralling story. The promised Strategy Away Day never materializes; instead, we are treated to Harry Potter and the Lads Holiday, as the Death Eaters inexplicably head to Magaluf while Ron and Hermione struggle to get to the next stage of their relationship back at Hogwarts – two narrative threads that never overlap. Joy brings some clever ideas (Fred and George must speak simultaneously) and does her best with the grating phoenixes, earning a few genuine chuckles. Brady is the most relaxed on stage, purveyor of the show’s funniest moments – Ron’s attempt at putting his arm around Hermione has even Joy struggling to keep composure. Unfortunately, these moments are too few and far between, hampered by characters that go nowhere and performers who assume that wacky = funny. The atmosphere is best summed up with Brady pointedly ignoring Connolly (‘Fawkes’) as he pretends to make out with himself in the corner.
In improv, anything goes as long as it’s funny. To be an audience member at an improv comedy is to suspend your narrative expectations, anticipate insanity and go along for the ride. Unfunny improv, however, is like being on the receiving end of a Cruciatus curse.
Review by Annie Aslett (contact@corrblimey.uk)
Annie is a not-so-recent graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in French and Spanish, along with a Masters in Translation from the University of Glasgow. A Spanish teacher for three years, she decided to leave the classroom behind to pursue personal goals and has since been regularly reviewing for Corr Blimey’s Glaswegian wing. Annie is a life-long lover of musical theatre, whose childhood performances included a rousing production of Snow White in The Hall and a heartfelt rendition of Go, Go, Go Joseph in The Living Room.
