All this month we are talking to acts that are performing at the Liverpool Improv Festival which takes place between Thursday the 24th – Sunday the 27th of April 2025. Today we speak to Stuart and Emma of Moses & Bird.

Tell Us about:

Your latest improv show for Liverpool Improv Festival? 

Stuart: We’re performing Things You Love on Thursday 24 April. As the audience arrives, we’ll welcome them to the show and ask if they would like to contribute to it. Some people might be a bit worried about this, but we’ll reassure them that we just need them to write down a suggestion. The prompt is, ‘Please can you tell us something you love about a friend or family member.

Emma: If they look unsure, we’ll clarify by adding, ‘think of something specific they’ve done for you, or just something they do.’

Then we’ll perform a 20-minute set, creating a story of two characters who may be friends, family or in a relationship. We regularly reach into the Tupperware container which holds everyone’s suggestions to inspire us.

Your favourite suggestion you have been given?

Emma: One of the things I’ve found pleasantly surprising is how generous people have been with their suggestions. People often write beautiful, intimate, things. We try to honour these suggestions as best we can. So while we’re staying true to our characters, (who might be quite comedic) we make sure we’re not silly about the suggestions. We’re there to celebrate the audience. We elevate them, as they elevate our performance.

Stuart: One of my favourite suggestions was: ‘My friend from Surrey joined me in London. We passed a sock shop and I commented how I liked a pair of Grinch socks in a show window. Three weeks later she drove me into London just to buy the socks for me.’ We used this in one show right at the end and it added to our character’s story just at the right moment.

Your favourite venue to perform at:

Stuart: We’ve always had a wonderful time at Liverpool Arts Bar. 

Emma: It’s a great venue, with wonderful staff. We always get the best audiences. 

Improv hero:

Emma: Many teachers and performers have inspired me over the years, but recently I invited David Razowsky to teach in Liverpool. And though my approach to improv differs to his in many ways, I think it’s important to experience lots of different ways of improvising – I really do admire his approach; his subversion of ‘improv rules’ is quite exhilarating!

Stuart: I admire Katy Schutte’s ability to take a group of people, many of whom have done little or no improv before, and in a short time get them playing together wonderfully. I also love the way Katy’s introducing new ingredients to improv. I attended an Improvisation with Folklore workshop she ran at an occult bookshop in London called Treadwell’s. It left my brain fizzing with inspiration!

Dream venue to play at:

Emma: I’d love to play at some of the bigger theatres in Liverpool, like Liverpool’s Royal Court studio. 

Stuart: I’ve always thought the Royal Albert Hall has a good vibe. Maybe they’d let us play the pipe organ? Though technically, that’s only the second largest in the UK, after the Liverpool Cathedral Grand Organ. So maybe Liverpool Cathedral?

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:

Emma: I’m always a bit nervous, but it’s more nerves of excitement and anticipation, rather than worrying about it not working or it ‘going wrong’. I do feel an incredible sense of security with Stuart, he’s so good at listening and supporting whatever’s happening and offering amazing ideas too. I know he can dig us out of a hole so I’m never worried about walking onto stage with him.

Stuart: I feel excited and safe. I know that whatever happens, Emma’s got my back. She combines great acting and directing experience, so I know if/when we get into trouble we’ll always be able to find out way out.

The hardest improv suggestion to perform and why:

Emma: Sometimes audience members feel the pressure to be funny, but as we all know, the best way to be funny is to be truthful. And sometimes suggestions are a bit waffly, (see Stuart’s example below lol!) so we have to find the truth of their suggestion succinctly and quickly on stage – a challenge, but in a good way! 

Stuart: Sometimes, caught up in my enthusiasm, I don’t always explain what we’re looking for very well. I take full responsibility for the following suggestion: ‘I was eating my tea in a Wetherspoons in Sheffield. A couple sat opposite me. They were drunk, started chatting to me, then started arguing with each other. The man left leaving his wife who polished off a bottle of wine and then started crying. She asked me to put her in a taxi but couldn’t remember where she lived. Taxis wouldn’t stop. Eventually a taxi stopped. She said nothing and it drove off.’

Emma: Also, sometimes people’s handwriting can be hard to decipher when you forget your glasses!

Essential items you always take with you to a show?

Emma: The set list / running order as usually I’m MC-ing a multi-team night. Also water, mobile, polo mints! 

Stuart: I always bring my phone because I’ve inadvertently made myself responsible for timekeeping.

Describe your fans in three words:

Stuart: They are ace!

Emma: Yes they are.

What we can look forward to from you this year: 

Stuart: We’ve had a wonderful time performing in Liverpool, and this year we’d like to expand our horizons. Emma is the founder of Liverpool Comedy Improv and I run improv classes in Reading, so in addition to more performances, it would be great to co-teach more workshops together!

Emma: I look forward to celebrating Liverpool Comedy Improv’s ten year anniversary with the community here. And it would be great to perform with Stuart elsewhere in the UK. 

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