The fabulous comedic team from ConArtists are back in the second instalment of their R18-themed improv show filled with hilarious theatre sports style games with a very naughty twist. 

The lovely Penny Ashton hosts the evening and warms up the crowd in a slightly unconventional way. Instead of the usual practice of yelling out suggestions, we get familiar with the people who are sitting next to us as we all fake an orgasm together.

Before the players are brought on we have the chance to explore our very own porn names and get a last minute drink from the bar. It is at this point that I realise that I am not entirely sure what I have come along to. The beauty of an improvisation comedy show is that it is different every night so no one, including the players, know what is going to happen next.

Once the players have been introduced – Scott Sinclair, Lori Dungey, Nigel Burrows, Clare Kelso, Moody Hikmet – we begin to understand the way the evening is going to play out. Penny Ashton takes the players through a series of theatre sports games, all with very adult themes complete with swearing and bad behaviour. The R18 classification should not be taken lightly as anything could happen.  

Before the show has even started, audience members are asked to fill out a small survey answering such questions as what is your biggest turn on, which the players then use as a theme for a song in a ‘world premiere’ game exploring all sorts of different styles of music. It is noted that usually they have a musician for the accompaniment but each player deals very well with having to use a backing track.

The freeze tag game allows the players to change what the scene is about by yelling ‘freeze’, and swapping with one of the two players in the scene. A particular favourite of mine is a game in which two of the players become children asking Daddy how babies are made, to which the third player has to guess what ridiculous suggestion has been chosen as well as ‘what gets daddy in the mood’ and ‘how are babies delivered.’

Throughout the evening, the players continue to return to a soap opera style game that comes to us in two minute bursts. We have the pleasure of enjoying a griping episode of Holy Crap Now: a hilarious tale of a forbidden love and religious figures, but of course this will be different every night. 

It is quite unfortunate that they players do not have enough space on stage as the Horse and Trap venue is too small for them to truly be able to explore all the possibilities, however all players are fantastic at adapting to the change of venue [from The Drake].

The evening is full of high energy entertainment and smut as well as chances for audience participation so be prepared to yell, laugh and maybe even get up on stage. I think the show is set out well, but I would have liked the show to finish on the last instalment of the soap opera as opposed to another song which falls a bit flat in comparison.

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