REVIEW: Paul Merton's Impro Chums (Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre, Newcastle)

Though Paul Merton is, of course, best known for splitting sides as one of the regular panellists on the legendary satirical TV series Have I Got News for You, it's far from the only avenue through which he has demonstrated his great aptitude for comic improvisation. Indeed, he regularly performs improvised comedy with the Comedy Store Players in London and has often toured the country with his stage show Paul Merton's Impro Chums, in which he and a cast of four other performers demonstrate their improvisational comedy prowess. The show was staged again recently in Newcastle, where it provided something of a comedic Quality Street.

Lots of laughter from many different comedy sketches

As you might have sensed, the phrase "a comedic Quality Street" isn't entirely intended here as a compliment. Indeed, what I really intend it to mean here is that, though there was plenty of variety in this show's sketches, the variety was in terms of the quality as well as the subject matter. I perhaps shouldn't have been too surprised by this, as, with this kind of improvised comedy, the quality of the comedy can largely depend on the quality of the audience suggestions. This was clear to me from the show's first game, where the audience shouted "DIE!" every time one of the performers stumbled, but which ultimately felt like a slightly pedestrian start to the show.

Still, first impressions only count for so much - and, as it turned out, there was lots of more exciting stuff in the rest of the show. Perhaps my favourite part of the show involved Merton interviewing three of his 'Impro Chums' - to be more exact, Richard Vranch, Lee Simpson and Merton's wife Suki Webster - on training tigers for pentathlon. The lovably random idea of training tigers for pentathlon was formed from audience suggestions and you can probably already easily see how it encouraged wonderfully chaotic dialogue, as Vranch, Simpson and Webster each uttered just one word in turn to form whole sentences, none of them certain what the others would utter.

I also loved that Paul and the other performers on the night, who also included prolific American actor and comedian Mike McShane, couldn't resist occasionally poking fun at famous people with strong associations with the local area. These people included Mike Ashley, when it was joked that the Newcastle United owner needed a bodyguard to protect him from Toon fans who loved him so much that they would throw bricks at him, and Paolo Di Canio. In the case of the latter, I won't spell out exactly what the joke was, but it is unlikely to surprise you that it was mocking the ex-Sunderland gaffer's much-publicised political views.

A slightly mixed bag that ultimately comes up trumps

The show boasted a quick succession of sketches, most of which lasting no longer than a few minutes. This had the benefit of ensuring that, whenever a sketch failed to work particularly well, as often occurred during the show, I rarely had to wait long before another sketch with better improvisational potential replaced it. Indeed, at its funniest, the show was probably funnier than any other live comedy show I have ever seen; this helped to make up for what parts of the show I didn't overly enjoy and ensure that I ultimately left the theatre smiling.