Lights Camera Improvise[author-post-rating] (4/5 stars) After stand-up comedy, improvisation is probably the most prevalent form at the Edinburgh Fringe. It seems to be everywhere, and as all improv is really pretty much the same it’s very difficult to predict which group is going to be good or bad. So here’s a quick nudge for you – Lights, Camera, Improvise! is very, very good and funny. Simple as that.

Lights, Camera, Improvise! is long-form improv, which means that the whole show has a through-narrative. The show began with an introduction from our host who just so happens to have a collection of every single film ever made, and also every single film you could ever imagine. With suggestions from the audience for the style, location and title, the film is created around our specifications no matter how wild or wacky they may be. The audience for Lights, Camera, Improvise! was huge, which made the shouting out suggestions part even more enjoyable as we got some very ridiculous ideas (including that it should be a porn movie which included space opera, whatever that is). Allowing the audience to feel part of the show, and to see the host laughing at some of the suggestions, is a great way to immediately get an audience on your side; the audience for Lights, Camera, Improvise!  was hooked and fully invested in the show right from the word go.

The cast were in the main, extremely good. Everyone put in their all with no-one hogging the limelight, though Joshua Elliott particularly stood out in our production as the Wizard With Slightly Questionable Morals with his excellent comic timing, and Jonathan Sayer who was our host for the night was infectiously bubbly and energetic, and interjected (paused the DVD) at all the right moments to make sure that the play stayed on track.

There is nothing particularly unusual about Lights, Camera, Improvise! – those who have seen improv before will recognise all the usual techniques, but it is expertly pulled off and, perhaps most importantly with improv, the audience feels safe in this company’s hands. Whatever the topic, this company will be able to create something hilarious out of it so there’s no need to worry. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the journey into the world where bears live in tiny specks of dust in forests inhabited by gobbledygook-speaking aliens in a land which can only be accessed by going into a shed in Bed, Bath and Beyond. Well, something hilariously bizarre like that anyway.

Lights, Camera, Improvise!  is playing at Underbelly, Cowgate at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival until 25 August. For more information and tickets, so the Edinburgh Fringe website.