Presented by Game Called Chat

Review by Hunter King

Just The Tonic at The Subway at Just The Tonic at Subway

One of the latest fads of the Fringe seems to be improvised musicals, especially with the success of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical. A slew of new groups have tried their hand at this concept, including an Edinburgh based group called Game Called Chat. In their new show Smile, It Might Never Happen, the troupe collects audience input for something that might be happening in their life right now. On the 17th, the audience was lucky enough to have a guy who has been getting rabies vaccinations after a rogue monkey bite in Bali.

Oscar Cooper-Spriggs provides orchestration on the keys in the corner and is constantly watching to ensure that the music fits the vibe of the show that the actors are putting on, sometimes adjusting ideas on the fly when a song turns sinister, or quickening the tempo when things get exciting. His ability to improvise music while keeping up with the actors is nothing short of brilliant.

The troupe of five actors bounce ideas off of each other and are able to non-verbally communicate in a way that is not only impressive, but necessary for a show of this caliber. Despite the show being mostly about the improvisation ability of the actors, the cast is also full of impressive vocalists. Notably, Will Jackson who was recently seen in Bare Productions’ Next To Normal, provided a bravado laden bass to the otherwise mostly high voices. Additionally, Laura Walsh hit some impressive high notes in a song about rabies of the finger. 

The actors all bring an incredible conviction to their characters. Zoe Cousin, as an example, played an incredibly realistic monkey, with physicality that would’ve been impressive with months of rehearsal, and only more so coming off the dome. Combining this with her incredibly serious song as the doctor giving Walsh the way of finding the cure for finger rabies was an incredible juxtaposition that provided a lot of range.

Game Called Chat are absolutely a group to keep an eye on, and they can compete any day with the larger improv troupes of the Fringe. Their commitment to silliness and ability to riff off of each other makes for a chemistry that is not always apparent in improv troupes. The fact that their show was donation based and could be watched for free is astonishing for the quality entertainment they provide. The only criticism that I have is that they only did a half run of the Fringe, and they deserve so much more both in the festival and as a career beyond the Fringe.

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