Award-winning comedy show celebrates birthday at Chorley Theatre
ComedySportz, an award-winning family friendly improv comedy show is celebrating twenty-three years of fun and games this weekend. Returning to the theatre where it all began, this team of top comics promise this is going to be the weekend's funniest fixture!
The summer olympics may have bought us competitive surfing, climbing and break dancing, but the only place to see comedy as a sport is at Chorley Theatre on Saturday 16th November. The show sees two teams of comedians go for gold with gags and games inspired by audience suggestions. There's a referee on hand to ensure a good clean match - it's a family friendly show after all - with penalties for bad jokes. The players have washed their kits and sharpened their wits ready for a comedy show where anything can happen and the ultimate winners are determined by the audience.
The show has played to sold-out crowds at venues and festivals across the country. The team also performed The Totally Improvised Musical which has just completed a small tour and are readying for their Totally Improvised Pantomimes - also coming to Chorley Theatre in December.
ComedySportz began at Chorley Theatre as an offshoot of the youth theatre. Chorley Theatre has steadily built a reputation for great touring comedy and recently expanded to create a secondary studio space for more intimate shows.
"We only ever thought the first show would be a one-off for charity, but the players and audience loved it so much we decided to keep going," says Bron Edge, who started the show in 2001. "We didn't really know what we were doing. We played one game of Forward Reverse - which sees players having to go back and forth through time, remembering everything they've said or done - for almost eight minutes! The players brains were melting by the end of it."
One game that has become something of a tradition at these birthday shows is called 'Object Tag' which invites the audience to leave items on stage for the players to turn into props for quick visual puns and gags. "The audience have put some wild and wonderful things on the stage," laughs Bron. "We've had people's shoes, a microwave and even the wing mirror from someone's car. Or at least, they told us it was from their car..."
The show is proudly family friendly and great fun for kids and adults alike. "There weren't a lot of comedy shows you could take kids to when we started but they offer some of the best suggestions," says Bron. "We've now been going so long that kids that saw us when we started bring their kids to shows!"
ComedySportz are appearing at Chorley Theatre on Saturday 16th November. The fun kicks off at 7.30pm and tickets are available from the theatre's website, box office or Malcolm's Musicland.