There is something inherently enjoyable about watching improvisation; the chuck-it-all-in, fingers-crossed approach is simultaneously nail-biting and heart-warming and this year’s first Micetro All-Star Semi-final is no exception.

Teetering always on the fickle tightrope between success and failure, the performers’ gritted teeth and beads of sweaty desperation create a Christmas-like spirit of generosity in the audience, who function as a scoring clap-o-meter.

Micetro is an impro competition format devised by international Impro guru, Keith Johnstone. As played by Sunday night’s improvisers, this is a combination of Theatresports and uninhibited improvised scenes.

Its positive elements include its capacity for a large number of competitors and its easy flow. The flip side of this is an unfortunate tendency to flow straight into a new, structured game without explaining its parameters, and a somewhat confusing process of elimination, compounded by a degree of overlap in the roles of MC Corey Matthews and Director Anton Van Helden.

The consistent option for the improvisers to perform scenes with no ‘ask-fors’ or offers from the director or audience are disappointing in the competitive impro environment, in which an audience is impressed to see ‘rules’ followed that guarantee at least some degree of improvisation from the performers.

However, last night’s Fringe Bar audience were bathed in laughter, consistently kept on their toes and particularly impressed with the evening’s Micetro, Ralph McCubbin-Howell, in his multitudinous characters and embodiment of funk.

The Fringe Bar hosts one more semi-final on Sunday May 2^nd at 7pm and the final, May 9^th at 7pm. Book now, as tensions rise this will only get better – and it will sell out.

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