It is the new year which only means one thing, it is time to celebrate acts that you should be keeping an eye on this year! Today we speak to the improv team Be Right Back – formed of the players Joe Mariani , Kirsten Peter, Laura Mejuto Iglesias, Jan Warden, Caroline Jones, Jamie McCrindle. Today we find out what they have in store for 2024.

Hello tell us all about your improv troupe?

Janice Warden: We’re a mix of amazing humans who have joined forces to improv together.

Caroline Jones: We are a bunch of improvisors with very different frames of reference due to our varied backgrounds, which makes for a lot of funny scenes. It’s always a joy when we discover something quirky or new about each other’s worlds.  We love feeding that back into our improv shows.

Joe Mariani: Most of the shows we put on stage have been designed completely from scratch – trying, finessing, adapting, and FAILING! And we all want the same thing – to have FUN together, share how much we enjoy being with one another, and make a connection with our audiences.

How did your troupe come about?

JW: mostly through hoopla courses introductions & decided we enjoyed improving together.

CJ: I received a confidential phone call from a source I cannot name asking me to join a new, very top secret, improv group. I was intrigued. We assembled undercover and thus Be Right Back was formed.

Joe: fate, fun, and friendship brought us together… and Covid. Half of our troupe started together, meeting at an entry improv comedy course in 2019. Then one Monday night in January 2023 sealed our fate. We haven’t stopped meeting since…

How was 2023 for you?

Kirsten: It was great! We formed in January,and spent some time working out a format. Then we started to do shows. We performed in the Camden Fringe and nights all over London. 

JW: We have learnt lots, played and had so much fun together.  We’re very grateful to have had some fun opportunities to share the stage with some other great acts. 

CJ: 2023 has been a great year for Be Right Back. We’ve been performing our show Six Degrees of Improvisation around London. Looking forward to our end of year holiday themed show. I’m curious about the dinosaurs on the flyer!

Joe: utterly incredible. Weekly improv sessions (sometimes more), a group trip to Amsterdam, birthday parties, weekend fun together – Be Right Back has been my pride and joy. And we put our show on the road  – Camden Fringe, Watford Fringe, Hoopla, just to name a few. It’s been non-stop, with two shows/month for the latter part of the year… and there’s lots more to come in 2024!

How did you get into improv?

JW: something fun to try during Covid #mybossmademedoit

Jamie: Work invited the Maydays along to a corporate event to teach us some beginner improv. I dreaded the thought of it and then found I enjoyed it a lot. Required several beers though. This is the reason I drink heavily before a show to this day. Not prepared to say whether I’m drunk right now but let’s just say, I’m not driving home.

CJ: After moving to London in 2019 my cousins, partner and I set monthly challenges for each other. One month I was set a challenge to take an acting class. In my search for a class, I found Hoopla and enrolled in an 8-week improv course, above and beyond the requirements of the challenge. Anyway, I was hooked and enrolled in another course, and another, and another…you get it. 

Joe: a very good friend of mine suggested I try improv comedy. She said it’d do me good – and how right she was! The first time I tried a class, I was hooked. After four years, five courses, and several advanced sessions – improv is now my oxygen. 

What was the top 3 highlights for you?

JW: spending time together at the Improv Amsterdam festival 

Jamie: Our show at No Horse Town Presents in Deptford, Improvising for a very engaged audience of 2 at the Watford Fringe, every practice session where we’re all breaking.

CJ: Camden Fringe shows, team building trip to the Amsterdam Improv festival and our outing to see Austentatious

Joe: Personally, nothing beat our group hugs, laughing together until it hurt, and feeling like I finally found my crew.

What was the key lesson you learnt from last year?

Kirsten: Keep making things happen, and keep sharing the load in the team. We’re great at improv, but we’re also truly excellent at improv admin!

Jamie: The audience loves sabotaging you. If you let them; they will happily laugh at their own joke. I can respect that, as someone who regularly breaks because of things my brain has decided to say.

CJ: Each show is different and how you feel about each show will vary. Don’t be too hard on yourself if a show doesn’t go as well as you hoped. Learn from your experience and focus on the good stuff. There will always be many moments of joy no matter how badly you think the show went.

Joe: on stage, one can easily overthink things. But when one stops doing that and starts to follow their gut, everything else falls neatly into place. Just focus on making your scene partner look good – you’re there for them, not for you. 

What are your plans improv wise for 2024?

CJ: More shows, possibly a festival, exploring new formats and continuing to make each other laugh

Laura Mejuto Iglesias: To explore a bit more unconventional improv styles. For example, improvised Snake charming. 

Joe: Plans? What are they?! Improv teaches us daily that planning is the enemy! But just to reassure anyone who’s already feeling jittery at the thought of navigating through uncharted waters – think of a monthly residency, festivals abroad, new formats, and even bigger shows!

What other improv acts are you looking forward to seeing perform online or in person to this year?

JW:  I love  Chris & Miss, Shoot from the Hip and The Bear Pack.

Joe: St Doctor’s Hospital, The Best in Improv @ the Comedy Store, Showstopper!

What styles do you hope to see more of in improv this year?

Kirsten: I love really great physical scenes in a natural environment. One of the greatest improv performances I’ve ever seen was someone pushing down the strainer on a coffee pot. So more of that. 

LMI: Improvised being (as opposed to improvised telling of feelings)

Joe: I love an organic pull. Where improv is less about starting a scene with a premise and making it happen, but more about grounded scenes that dive into emotions, relationships, and universal truths. It makes it less comedic and more dramatic, but when it’s done beautifully it gives me goosebumps!

What improv troupe is your one to watch in 2024 and why?

Joe: Small Time Crooks. It’s technically a show (not really a troupe) and I’m sure you haven’t heard of them yet, but trust me – you will!

Do you have any new years resolutions? If so what are they?

LMI: In our New Year’s resolution powwow, we decided to spice up our improv game. Picture this: We’re diving deep into characters and meaningful moments on stage, but there’s a twist. We’re throwing in knockout Northern accents for that extra flavour. It’s all about laughs, revelations, and a touch of that irresistible charm from the North. 

KP: I think I might have skipped that rehearsal, Laura. More of the same! I’d love to perform at a festival abroad.

Are you on social media? If so how can people find out more about your troupe?

Kirsten: We’re on Instagram @berightbackimprov. We even sometimes stretch to reels.

Three words why people should come and see you this year?

Jamie: it’s all scripted

CJ: There are dinosaurs

Joe: We need you.