For this weeks Show of the Week we are heading to Cambridge to chat to Alice and Hamish of the Impronauts. This week they are doing a number of shows based on An Improvised Film Noir. I wanted to find out more about what they had in store for the audiences.
Whim City: An Improvised Film Noir
Date: Wed 6 – Sat 9 November
Location: ADC Theatre
Price:Wed 6th November £6–£8, Thursday £7–£9, Friday/Saturday 9th £8–£10 (Concessions for students, etc.)
Time: 11pm-midnight
Ticket Link: https://www.adctheatre.com/whats-on/comedy/whim-city-an-improvised-film-noir/
Tell us all about who you all are and three unknown facts about your troupe!
Alice- We are not a student society we just happened to be full of students anyone can join regardless of studentness. One of our community roles is constable which is a role dedicated to someone being around long enough to remember how we do anything as we seem to keep forgetting Membership is lifetime so we have a lot of ‘Nauts who have been around for ages.
How did your troupe form?
Hamish- Originally we were called ICE, “Improvised Comedy Ents”, a group of like-minded individuals who formed their own improv society. I believe that was back in the naughties?
How did you come up with the name of your troupe? Was it difficult?
H – After a particularly memorable, yet long lost in time, longform show based on Greek tragedies entitled “Jason and the Impronauts”, it was decided that the name was good enough to stick forever – and stick it has! Literally “Impronaut” translates to “sailor of improv”, which does seem quite fitting.
How did the show come about?
H- Alice and I both knew we wanted to direct a show together, it was just a matter of finding a genre. After a brief discussion, film noir was the clear winner! We both love the genre.
How did you get into improv?
A- I started doing it at uni, well formally started doing it at uni: life’s a performance so I had had a bit of practice.
H- I began in high school, doing theatresports with my mates.
Tell us a little bit about the show that are happening this week?
A- Well the show we want to tell you about is called Whim City, it’s an improvised film noir. I think it’s going to be a blast! It’s a long form where we will use prompts from the audience to build our world, and even more prompts to sway our characters.
It is the month of November, the month of fireworks! What is the key to having a spark on stage with fellow team members? How do You create a bond?
A– eye contact! Really helps you create an emotional connection with you and your scene partner as well as communicating ideas. Also, I always have sparks with everyone 😉 so I rarely have to worry about this.
How do you warm up before a show?
A- my favourite is a touch of zip zap boing followed by a fast game of three things where, while you are waiting for your turn, you have to be moving! If we have a lot of time I would throw in a mind-meld.
What have been some of the best suggestions that you have been given in a show and why?
H- We’d asked for a relationship and a name to begin a scene – for the relationship we had father and son, when we went to ask for a name a person from the back yelled out, “Supreme Galactic Lord von Hammerschmidt!!”… cue adorable, wholesome story of SGLvH and his son playing catch on the bridge of his FTL warship 🙂
If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?
FB – https://www.facebook.com/impronauts/
Insta – https://www.instagram.com/impronauts/?hl=en
Website – https://impronauts.com/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Impronauts
And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?
H- Laughter cures everything 😉
QUICK FIRE ROUND
What makes you smile?
A- people
What is your biggest strength as an improviser?
A- I have never felt shame
Dream venue to perform at and why?
A- Home, my mum has never seen me perform and that makes me sad because it is such a big part of my life
Are you a dog or cat person?
A- Dog (allergic to cats)
What is the most delightful suggestion for a scene you can think of?
A- Childhood best friends who have just bumped into each other as adults at a funfair (both are wearing comically large hats)
If you had to have a tattoo to represent improv what would you have and why?
A – The laughing drama face to remind me not to take myself so bloody seriously
Who is your improv hero and why?
A- Some guy called joe because he was the person who taught me improv
What is the last thing you liked on social media?
The reductress article – are you even good enough to have imposter syndrome
https://reductress.com/post/quiz-are-you-even-good-enough-to-have-imposter-syndrome/
Categories: Improv, Interview, Show of the Week
Tagged as: cambridge, cambridge impronauts, film noir, Improv, improvisation, show, Show of the Week
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