Hard Boiled Dick | Edge Improv & Never Before Musical | Ho Hum
If you’re looking for something a little different and lots of fun, hit up the Brisbane Improv Festival this weekend. I rocked up on the first night of the festival to a line going out the door (and round the corner) of the Ron Hurley theatre. It seems Brisbane has been hungry for improv, and Big Fork Theatre are serving up a feast. I saw back-to-back shows of Hardboiled Dick (Edge Improv) and Never Before Musical (Ho Hum).
Hard-boiled Dick opened on a table of costumes, ripe for the picking, and a live three-piece band that set the sultry scene. Two actors flipped a coin to determine who would play the lead, our hard-boiled detective, that the audience named ‘Winston Lamington’. Seasoned improviser Brad Daniels scored the role while Chris Milne was tasked with playing every other character on stage, including a mysterious femme fatale, an old war buddy and an Aussie stable hand. They worked together to uncover the mystery of the stolen cricket bats, in the most cricket-centric city: Austin, Texas.
The show leant on the actors’ strong knowledge of classic detective tropes, with Daniels often breaking from the scene to deliver internal monologue to the audience. I adored the live band, who adapted the music as the mood changed. I found myself watching the band members watching the show, seeing them laugh as the actors discovered something unexpected. This added a whole new element of comedy.
Daniels and Milne worked well together. They seemed to be having fun and laughed at themselves often – when they forgot names and when ideas clashed. There were funny moments, but I felt the improvised components were limited by the need to fulfil the overarching plot. The actors seemed to know how the show would end before it had started, and the comedy didn’t quite feel rewarding enough on the journey there. By contrast, the show that followed seemed to grow out of thin air.
Ho Hum launched into Never Before Musical, a fully fleshed-out musical, following a single prompt from the audience: ‘dreams’. They began with a dad, played by Glenn Seaby, who wanted his son to dream big. The son, played by Adam O’Sullivan, dreamt that his part-time dad would love him one hundred percent of the time, instead of a measly sixteen-point eight percent. This evolved into the hilarious song ‘You’re always rounding up your love’ and the rest of the show became a series of vignettes into the lives of his other children, played by Olivia Windsor and Mandy Plumb. Accompanied by a pianist, the four ensemble members busted out something like ten original songs that they made up on the spot.
Each scene was built around characters and ideas mentioned in the previous scene. After a short intro that established each scene, the piano came in and the actors begun a musical number, mostly duets, backed by goofy musical-style dancing. The ensemble had strong voices and great chemistry. This wasn’t their first rodeo. Most notable was O’Sullivan, who brought a glut of funny jokes and offers that grew the scene and built the world, and Seaby, who supported the other actors, knowing when to leave ideas and move onto something new.
I got such a thrill every time I heard those first few piano bars to bring the actors into song. I loved watching the lyrics come into their heads. This is one of the great gifts of improv, involving the audience in that discovery process. The result is often random but sometimes incredibly satisfying. I enjoyed myself so much that I grabbed another ticket and stayed to watch the next show. Make sure you go and catch a laugh before the festival is over!
