The Noise Next Door

This year’s Fringe is once again filled with a wide selection of improvised comedy acts. From old favourites The Improverts to The Oxford Imps and Paul Merton’s Impro Chums, there are plenty of groups busy making people laugh with little or no preparation. The Noise Next Door are a relatively new addition to the bustling off-the-cuff marketplace. But having made a name for themselves last year, the Brighton quintet returns to the Fringe with something of a reputation.

Their show, unlike those of many of their peers, has a structure around which the players’ material must evolve. The premise is that Earth has been destroyed by some unnamed entity, and is then populated by some new, unnamed entity, only for it to be threatened and then saved by some as yet unnamed entities. It is, naturally, for the audience to organise the progression of the narrative.

The success of Otherworld is partly dependent on the quality of the suggestions, but even the most blindly whimsical proposals are handled nicely by the company. The musical segments are generally the low points, with a Mickey Mouse rap about the Disney Corporation being, frankly, embarrassing to watch. But there are many successes, among them an absurd moment where a bellybutton is used to scale a mountain. Improvised comedy is by its very nature hit and miss, but this troupe have enough wit and vivacity to maintain a relatively steady flow of quality.