Blind Mirth’s 21st Anniversary “Improvaganza”: Reviewed

Initially going to be a planned comedy sketch, Blind Mirth changed course approximately a week and a half before the performance and reverted back to a doing an hour of improv. A seafood restaurant was the starting point, but as it goes this quickly divulged into a number of scenes involving limb amputation and transplanting as well as criminal pursuit – in which Liam Mitchell, in a true feat of human physical fitness, portrayed a police car – and a peculiar digression into underwater life. After a decent start, the stride was really hit approximately fifteen minutes in and lasted for around ten minutes, before dying off again and starting up sporadically. Wrapping up with a round of “Sex with me,” in which the cast describes how sex with them is like various objects, such as sarcophagi (“if the seal breaks you’ll be cursed for 1,000 years” and “its only for dead people”) or dissertations (“I expect a proposal form three months in advance”), that are suggested by the audience. The performance took an hour, and as such would be a decent break from library work, although a more reliable laugh might be found on Netflix. The Byre Theatre was, of course, a good venue and the cast utilised the theatre’s spotlight and stereo system to good effect in a number of impassioned and humorous speeches. But, as was alluded to before, there were a number of dull moments; this, however, is understandable as the task is not only difficult but the performers not career professionals. The cast list was given on the events page as including some ten individuals, of which only half seemed to be present, which in addition to the last-minute change of performance gave off a feeling of disorganisation or non-commitment. That being said, I would recommend Blind Mirth – though I might not spend £7 for it.

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