Austentatious - McEwen Hall - Review

Take a walk down the road between George square gardens and bristo square and I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear something along the lines of ‘improv comedy tonight’ and ‘do you like improv’ maybe every five paces. Therefore, an improvised comedy troupe needs to stand out from the crowd, needs to present something different to lure in an audience, and this is something that Austentatious has down to a fine art.

A big name of the Edinburgh Fringe, calling the majestic and massive McEwen hall their home where they perform to sell out houses during their stint at the festival. It is in this grand setting that they present their unique style of improv, asking the audience to come up with a title for a lost Jane Austen novel. Then the talented and altogether hilarious company of improvisers create a full story based on that title in a regency tale like you’ve never seen before, and won’t ever see again.

The title given at this performance was Finally Facing My Waterloo, much to the delight of musician in residence Dylan Townley who could not only show off his skills as a musical improviser but also his extensive knowledge of ABBA. It’s quite difficult to explain the comedic chaos that unfolded but it hilariously included two young brothers who couldn’t quite decide if they were Swedish or not, a pair of musician sisters, fighting with mouths, mood rings, and soldiers returning from the front who may or may not have fought like they should.

The cast, which included Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Rachel Parris, Lauren Shearing, Graham Dickson, Joseph Morpurgo and Daniel Nils Robert, skilfully come up with plot points, characters and moments of comedic genius at the drop of the hat, walking the fine line being losing control to the comedy and keeping the storyline together with great results. The audience delight in every moment of silliness, cheering and laughing throughout and it is the laughter of the cast themselves that only adds to the hilarity. They laugh at each others jokes, encourage silliness to continue and boost the enjoyment factor greatly.

It is no surprise that Austentatious not only continues to return to the fringe festival on the yearly basis, enjoys regular residences in London’s West End and takes their comedy stylings up and down the country. The improvised comedy creates something for everyone and the sense of anything could happen or spiral out of control creates both laughter and excitement.