Nothing gets you in the Christmas spirit quite like laughter does, and Shellshock’s festive improv show on Sunday evening in the DSU Learning Lounge was quite the sweet treat for enjoyers of jovial, and slightly out-of-pocket, Christmas jokes. Without any memorised lines, the eight members of the improv troupe set out to deliver an effortlessly funny performance with games ranging from using lyrics of Silent Night and All I Want For Christmas Is You to have a conversation, to an act where superheroes by the name of ‘Timber Man’, ‘Architecture Girl’, ‘Paperclip Guy’, and ‘Doctor Brick’ exist! And their first superhero expedition? To solve the issue of elves stuck in chimneys everywhere!
The show was cohesively executed in two halves with a short interval in between, and the second half, of course, largely constituted of a Cinderella Pantomime performed with suggestions from the audience about how the characters should be played – I never thought I’d have the honour of seeing Cinderella played in the style of Teletubbies, or Lord Of The Rings, or indeed, a contemporary Greek drama (still slightly bewildered by that prompt). The audience’s bizarre but rib-tickling prompts were taken by the Shellshock! cast in stride, and used to put on an extremely exciting show. A personal favourite was the Guessing Game, where one of Santa’s elves was late because ‘the snow caps are melting’, eventually got to come to work ‘on a narwhal’, and reports that the no. 1 gift being produced in the elf factory is…a furby. Obviously, the late elf had to guess how his day went exactly as decided by the audience! There was also a cheeky game of ‘Hey baby, you are like…’, featuring innuendo which left the audience cracking up. Maximum audience interaction was ensured with an ending game of ‘Scenes out of Hat’, where members of the audience got to write prompts on chits, which were subsequently put in a Christmas hat (duh), and used by the cast to come up with amusing (and often slightly concerning) one-liners.
The cast was phenomenal. From creating an exuberant atmosphere in the room from the get-go with their iconic entry on stage with red tinsel scarves, to improvisation that kept me in stitches with laughter, Ben, Kate, Russel, Sophie, Henry, Becket, Etna, and Yicong did a fabulous job at their quick thinking and collaborative comedy. A massive well done to them, and to Molly, whose well-timed sound effects made the experience all the more enjoyable. If you enjoy fast-paced, witty, creative, and playful comedy, Shellshock! shows are the place for you. Check them out on their Instagram, and make sure you get tickets to their next show!
Image Credits: DEREK PRICHARD on flickr