You couldn’t make it up. Nearly three decades after the Channel 4 show first popularised improvisation in the UK the Whose Line team is greeted by a roar at the Palladium. I went to a Sunday afternoon matinee and the atmosphere was like a Saturday night rock gig. Even the musicians doing the warm-up were cheered between MOR songs.
Whether by chance or planning this revival, like last year’s West End show, cannily taps into the tourist audience. Usually when a comedian asks if there are any Americans in there are a couple of hands up. When chairperson Clive Anderson asked during his chirpy warm-up the rafters shook with whoops. Ticket sales are probably helped by the fact that a TV version is still running in America.
The current line-up is an international mix of old and new. As well as Anderson there is Josie Lawrence, Colin Mochrie and Greg Proops from the original show, plus Americans Brad Sherwood and Jeff Davis (not pictured) who have been on the newer US reboot. The games they play based on audience suggestions are as old as the hills. Well, at least as old as the original show, but there is no denying that they are still hugely entertaining.
You can’t fault the skill of the performers who are able to riff off any shouts from the audience. Anderson tries to make it hard for them by rejecting familiar options (“we had zookeeper two nights ago”) but they are rarely stumped. And if in doubt there is always the smutty option, though they rarely succumbed to it without encouragement from the audience. Was the show as rude on C4? Did as many people suggest “porn” as a film style thirty years ago?
This is a real team effort. It is hard to single a star performer out, but I was impressed by Brad Sherwood’s spontaneous Mick Jagger impression (although maybe it wasn’t quite as spontaneous as it seemed – I just read a review of the press night and he slipped a Mick in there too). Jeff Davis’ oily cruise ship entertainer during a sketch where Greg Proops had to guess professions was so slick he could probably make a living on the QE2 if the bottom ever falls out of the improv market.
Josie Lawrence made up songs on the spot just as she did in the 1980s, while hangdog Colin Mochrie – a passable Bill Murray clone - seemed to get the most laughs with the least effort particularly when playing a robot who had to kiss someone to charge up. He is not lazy, just very skilful. And Greg Proops had enough energy to go round, swaggering and mugging to the crowd and gently mocking Anderson.
At over two hours the show does become a little repetitive towards the end, but it’s not the performers or the format that are at fault, just the desire to offer value for money. It’s amazing to think that there were no live versions of this in the UK for two decades. The producers must be thinking of all those full houses they missed out on over the years as they count up the takings for this limited run.
Until June 19. Tickets here.
