Review: Showstopper, The Improvised Musical, UK Tour at the Lowry, Salford

It's MAAAY! (Couldn't resist) And I also have to warn you... IMCOMING!!! May is hectic as for me. As well as all the usual life drama, my 30th (!!) birthday is coming up, and I have a whopping 10 shows booked throughout May, with 1 more still to book... Oh boy.

And I am starting this off with a bit of improvisation: literally. During lockdown, I was introduced to Showstopper: The Improvised Musical, and managed to catch one of their online shows, which featured a pair of rapping ducks. 

The beauty of this show is that because it's improvised, every single show is different. The matinee's performance was apparently set in a 1970s auction house called "Sold to the lady at the back". But the one out of the performance I went to in Salford... Well, let's dive in how it works. 

The main reason I wanted to come along, other than the fact that the online performance was hilarious, was that I wanted to see how it worked live compared to over a screen. 

We were introduced to the producer (I think), played by Sean McCann; who can I say looks scarily like Jeremy Vine..! Anyway, he gets a call from "Cameron" who has yet another theatre gone dark and needs a new show to fill it STAT. This is where the audience open up suggestions, and then vote. 

Once the setting is chosen, then the same is done with a name; and then suggestions of 4 musicals which inspire the songs. Then in the interval, we were encouraged to tweet what we want to see next: sadly my suggestion of a number inspired by "Ohmigod you guys" didn't make the cut...

That night we got: 

Meatballs of Fire: a musical set in Ikea, with songs inspired by Grease, Company, The Blues Brothers, and SIX. 

This turned out to be as fun as it sounded. With a lot of Swedish jokes, questions as to why Ikea furniture all has weird names, an Act 2 opener set in the ball pit with the chorus basically going "Balls, Balls, I Love Balls!". 

It's weird to do an actual review as such, as Meatballs of Fire is a truly unique experience. But the main reason why I think Showstopper does so well is not that it's hilarious, but also that the actors and musicians that this team has. The fact that just with a few bits from the audience, they can pull together a plot, songs, score, running gags etc etc just like that. Tonight, we had Jonathan Ainscough, Ali James, Adam Meggido, Phillip Pellew and Lucy Trodd *inset image of me clapping for all of you here*. 

I would 100% look on their website and see if they are performing near you - and if you're going to the Edinburgh Fringe, you're in luck as they're performing there too! It's something that I think if you're any kind of musicals fan, you will enjoy; as you quite literally don't know what you're going to get!