David Elms @ Pleasance Courtyard
David Elms Describes a Room is a real triumph of the imagination
And this year's award for ‘Show Title Which Does Precisely What It Says On The Tin’ goes to... David Elms.
David Elms Describes a Room is a deceptively simple idea which improviser Elms carries off with aplomb. Starting small, Elms asks a member of the audience to suggest something which could be on the imaginary shelf behind him (“Pencil Sharpener”, someone immediately calls out). This lays bare what we’ll experience for the rest of the hour as our comic slowly moves his way around his invisible room, asking for suggestions from every person in the crowd.
Details in our room this evening range from a David Beckham statue over on the bookcase by the window (head-shaved, obviously), a riddle-locked door to the garden and a glitter ball the size of a wrecking ball dominating the floor, all imagined by the people in the room in the moment.
The audience interaction is so inclusive. Whether that’s because of Elms’ stage being so bare and no-frills (there’s not even a microphone) or because after his first couple of questions to the audience everyone clearly understands the assignment (there’s just something about their specificity), it fosters a brilliantly friendly, no-risk atmosphere in Pleasance’s smallest portakabin.
It’s also an impressive feat of memory from Elms. Once he’s gathered an idea from everyone in the space, he rattles off every suggestion, laying his hands where they are in the room in a sort of extreme Method of Loci challenge. He then whips up a scene in the room, using as many suggestions as he can.
Together we create something completely unique. It’s ours for tonight only. And in this way, there’s something of a kinship with Julia Masli’s magical ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Describes a Room really shouldn’t work, and if anything, we want to see Elms play in his room for a little while longer, but his finely honed improv skills manage to create a fascinating hour of gentle comedy which is a real triumph of the human imagination.
David Elms Describes a Room, Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand), until 24 Aug, 9.35pm, £9-14.50