Review by Steve Bennett

Ironically enough, when it comes to reviewing Shhh: An Improvised Silent Movie, I’m a little lost for words.

For this is a unique, brilliant idea, and the six actors, the pianist and even the guy who writes the captions are all slick performers creating a full coherent script out of thin air. Yet aside from a couple of incidents, they almost entirely forget to be funny until the final five minutes – something of a drawback for a comedy show described as ‘totally hilarious’. Maybe theatre would have been a better categorisation.

The team, from Italy, work in long-form improv, a full story being spun just from a title suggested by the audience. It’s a long-winded process the way i Bugiardini do it, asking everyone, in turn, to write a job on a blackboard as they file in. They look at each suggestion, then erase it, and on to the next one… the result of which is – apart from a long queue to sit down – that they always end up with the idea of the last person to enter. We are, collectively, asked to change it if we like, but that would seem presumptuous.

Tonight’s given title is The Reality TV Star, and the team regale us with the story of an ugly man grafting away, unappreciated, in a kitchen who, after much cajoling and training, finally enters a televised culinary showdown against the host’s wife – or protégé… it’s sometimes difficult to ascertain the exact relationships here.You mustn’t let your concentration slip for a minute, either, as you might miss a vital clue that would render a crucial mime meaningless.

Yet they skilfully carry scenes and – impressively – create a coherent narrative with no loose ends. The perform behind a scrim, a screen that is either transparent or not depending on the lighting, so that caption cards can be flashed up over them, perfectly stylised in the manner of real silent movies. This device is probably too infrequently used, however, as there are missed opportunities for plenty more extra jokes and plot advancement.

The funniest moments come as the team imaginatively mime inanimate objects – a phone, a door, or even a thought bubble. In today’s story this physical comedy reaches a creative peak in the final scene of the bake-off; with the presenter shown in ecstatic delight at the ugly guy’s cookies.

But otherwise such flair for comedy is too sparsely displayed, even if the execution of the concept is near-flawless.

Review date: 10 Aug 2014
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel