‘Laugh Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ review
‘this was my first time attending an improvised comedy, it has set the bar high’
Durham University’s improvised comedy group Shellshock’s ‘Laugh Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ was a wonderful and chaotic performance by Molly Barnes-Tate, Oli Ingoe, Etna Nebreda Boto, Clara Springman, Tim Sypchenko, and Nemo Royle. It was an engaging and interactive show, forcing the audience to stay awake and use their brains. As this was my first time attending an improvised comedy, it has set the bar high with a collection of high energy, silly, and crazy games: including a one-word letter game; rainbow cows and magic goats; a midnight snacking vibe; a long sausage; and the classic alphabet game including Christmassy themes.
A stand-out skit for me was the guessing game, involving Molly Barnes-Tate playing an elf who was late for work! However, the most unhinged scenes were the last two, the long-form narrative detailing the lives of the Flinerflangles and Cartwrights in 1645 Regency England - basically a wildly exaggerated version of Bridgerton. Another fun, yet slightly concerning, sketch was ‘sex with me is like…’. I must say I enjoyed the spontaneous theme of Communism - do you prefer Leninism like John the eight-year-old, or Stalinism like Santa?
At points, I did not fully understand what was going on, but that just added to the fun - trying to navigate the ludicrous stories and games! If you enjoy bonkers shows, fancy a laugh, and a not-so-serious time, I would highly recommend attending their shows next term. Equally, if you are interested in getting involved in their bizarre fun and shows, then attend their workshops run every Tuesday that are open to all - I might even give it a try. Still, I’ve been warned that they are even more unhinged and ridiculous than the performance was! Apparently, the show was low energy for them; I’m not sure how much more chaotic these games can get, but I’d love to see them even more unhinged!
A massive well done to everyone. Improv is hard especially when it tries hard to be funny, but they achieved that almost effortlessly. Also, a quick shout out to the audience for making Shellshock’s job even harder with absurd suggestions and stimuli for their skits, including ‘Gulag’ which improvisers Springman, Ingoe, and Nebreda Boto did a great job with - especially with the accents which kept getting stronger as is it went on.
A final round of applause for Durham University’s improvised comedy group- Shellshock!
By Abby Clay.