All this month we are talking to MissImp, an improv team based in Nottingham and this year they are taking their show on the road! The team have a show called It’s A Trap The Improvised Star Wars show and this year they are performing in many locations including The Brighton Fringe. This week we find out more about the team and talk about rehearsals.

How did the idea for your show It’s A Trap come about?

It’s a Trap has come from a love of Star Wars and evolved from a show we did called Millions of Voices which was the last hours of the planet Alderaan. Originally it was two team members talking about the extended universe and wondering if those stories could be improvised. Once we had been blown up repeatedly we decided to hop on a spaceship and see the rest of the galaxy. Without the very literal deadline we were able to visit all sorts of periods in the star wars storyline and play so much more freely.

Tell us a little bit about each member of the team!

We have an amazing roster of 11 players we can draw on and have had some cracking guests in the past. Our core players are Sam Marshall, wise as master yoda and prequels apologist. Nick Tyler, a force ghost who can remember life before the clone wars, Marilyn ‘Queen of Ewoks’ Bird who has a hit out on Jar Jar Binks and denies the prequels ever happened. Martin Findell who’s 20 seconds away from throwing a thermal detonator and leads the Boba Fett Fan Club, Emily Brady who answers the question What If Princess Leia fell to the Dark Side, Jamie Lee who won’t go that way because it’s far too rocky, Jeanette Bird Bradley who is the high roller of Canto Bight and the only person to beat Lando at Pazzak. Phil Carruthers who has the precision and efficiency of IG88 when it comes to comedy and Ben Macpherson – the lovechild of Count Dooku and Chewbacca, also the producer. We have 2 more team mates exploring beyond the outer rim, Liam Webber and Mitchell Masterson who are prophesied to return in the ancient Jedi texts

How do you rehearse for a show like this?

Rehearsing this show is all about building the world and finding connections. We don’t want to do an improvised roast of Star Wars so we take time to create characters in the galaxy far far away and let them chase their own tales 

How much do you rehearse?

We usually rehearse once a month for an intensive day, we sometimes pair this with other activities like lightsaber training or movie nights (Star Wars of course)

Are there any specific games that you use in rehearsal to help out?

Our go to warm up is a character circle, where a person is endowed with a name, occupation and quirk then brings that character to life for a 30 second monologue

How do you wind down after you have done a show?

We usually like to grab a drink in the pub and talk through the best bits of the show.

What is your favourite thing about performing?

We have a big cast and there are lots of reasons but escapism and feeling like part of a larger story come up a lot for us.

And the most challenging?

The hardest part about performing is trying to hold it together when Nick Tyler does his heavily asthmatic Saw Gerrera impression. This has stopped a rehearsal for 15 minutes before.

What can you tell us about your up and coming shows?

The next big chance to see IT’S A TRAP is going to be at Brighton Fringe. We are there with Rotunda Theatre in a geodesic dome so it’s as Star Wars as possible. We are performing Friday 12^th of May at 19;30 – Tickets can be found right here https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/its-a-trap-the-improvised-star-wars-show/