Tuesday's improvisation was impeded by a format and story line that caused it to err toward the tedious. Audience members, asked to choose a theme and title of a play to be improvised for the hour, came up with Oscar Wilde and ‘The End of the Bell’. But the theme seemed insufficient for the whole hour: by halfway through the Edwardian clothing, stereotypes and accents were beginning to grate. The title was barely mentioned until near the end, and then it was inelegantly flung into the plot by the MC (Alex O’Bryan-Tear).

The format also stifled more off-the-cuff innovation; the same characters met each other over and over again in the same circumstances, making the improvisation stale. Perhaps two shorter improvised plays set in different periods, more audience interaction, or a more creative plot from the MC, could have livened things up.

Nonetheless, it must be granted that improvisation is incredibly tough, and the Impronauts did a valiant job of it. They had a good rapport with the audience, so even when jokes flopped, they got away with it. Sometimes the default mode was a predictable Edwardian pitter-patter, however, relying on light-hearted conversations without any real jokes. Punch lines are extremely difficult in improvisation, and this difficulty was noticeable.

The cast varied hugely. There were moments of real hilarity. Ted Hill shone, first as the cockney Soho shop owner, and then especially as the Monty Python-esque Lady Gertrude: the room immediately took to him. Alan Beaumont and Colin Rothwell were also a pleasure to watch on stage: Colin’s pastor, excommunicated from the Catholic Church for his hat, was brilliant every time he cleverly reappeared in the story-line. However, other members of the cast were less strong. Chris Smowton, who ended up as the protagonist of the story, had a tough role with little variation, and had an annoying tendency to fidget with his hat. Sam Brain never really get a chance to show off since most of her characters were background fillers, and both the MC and Bella Nicholson had funny moments but sometimes lapsed into the forgettable.

There was a pianist playing throughout the show, but he was put to little use, only once successfully relating his music to what was happening on stage, the rest of the time lapsing into seemingly pointless background music.

Despite their shortcomings, the Impronauts were light-hearted and enjoyable overall. There were no cringey awkward moments, which is a feat in itself for an hour-long improvisation. But with a more varied format and a quicker-paced plot, it could have been vastly improved.