COMEDIAN Paul Merton and his fellow Impro Chums Lee Simpson, Suki Webster and Mike McShane will be back on the road next year for a series of improvisational comedy-powered live shows that should delight fans of Channel 4's classic 'why isn't it still on the air?' Friday night favourite, Whose Line Is It Anyway?
This rag-bag gang of make-it-up-on-the-spot comedy mavericks – whose "collective improvisational experience is enough to stun an elephant" according to their PR blurb – will visit Derry's Millennium Forum on Saturday April 13 2019.
They do have serious form: Merton is a veteran of legendary London improv troupe The Comedy Store Players, of which Webster (Merton's wife) and Simpson are also members, and he got his big TV break by appearing on Whose Line?, where most people outside the US likely encountered Mike McShane's supreme improv talents for the first time.
Fittingly, the Chums' audience suggestion-fuelled antics will be soundtracked by Whose Line?'s original fleet-fingered pianist Richard Vranch (another Comedy Store Players stalwart) and his quick-thinking accompanist Kirsty Newton.
Each night, Merton and co "will create a new and unique comedy show, based entirely on suggestions from the audience, their own finely honed improvisational skills and an almost manic compulsion to show off".
An evening of gleefully unpredictable entertainment awaits: no doubt the Derry audience will be more than willing to provide the performers with some lesser-spotted improvisational themes when prompted.
:: Tickets priced £24.50 are on sale now via the Millennium Forum box office on 028 7126 4455 and online via Millenniumforum.co.uk
