If you’re a fan of improvisation, you’ll enjoy Spontaneous Potter. As usual, the audience is asked to make suggestions and the suggestion with the loudest applause is the one that anchors the story. This time it was Harry Potter in Asbo Land. It worked.
Jenny Laahs was a superb musical accompaniment to the action, sensing where things were headed and playing suitably emotionally laden music. Her contribution made a big difference.
Stand up stalwart, Stu Murphy, took the reins to introduce the cast: Paul Connolly, Moira Jay and Emily. Just Emily. She was good! Between them they behaved in a silly way and carried the story forward smoothly. Stu Murphy seems to be the most experienced of the cast and he has a very sharp wit. His long hair is glossy and lush, his beard bristly and I thought he was Matt Berry from the IT crowd. I got quite excited at the prospect of a picture with him. He even sounds like him. But no. He’s Stu from Edinburgh and he’s been a stand-up comedian at The Stand with Gary Dobson for eons, it seems.
I didn’t take a picture. It felt a bit awkward after my faux-pas regarding who do you think you are? Or, more accurately, who do I think you are?
This show is going to travel the length and breadth of the country after its Fringe run so give them lots of practice. Get yourselves down to The Stand’s New Town Theatre (not York Place) on George Street and have a hat trick of suggestions up your sleeve.
Reviewer: Kathleen Mansfield
Reviewed: 8th August 2023
North West End UK Rating: