Masters of off-the-cuff improv, the comedy ensemble will take audience suggestions at the Norwich comedy festival and transform them into fantastically funny scenes and songs in the blink of an eye.
Improvised comedy seems perfectly suited to a comedy festival and energetic The Noise Next Door will be providing the unexpected at this year's Laugh in the Park in Norwich.
Masters of off-the-cuff comedy, the acclaimed improv ensemble will transform audience suggestion into scenes, songs and scenarios, with hilarious consequences.
With their perfect blend of ludicrous characters, barbed one-liners and musical extravagance, they've already won a cult following, played sell-out tours and are no strangers to Red Card Comedy Club, who organise Laugh in the Park.
One of the region's biggest comedy festivals, the events runs over four nights in Chapelfield Gardens. It has become an annual fixture in the city social calendar and features top stand-up talent and big names all on stage in a marquee.
The Noise Next Door will be performing on July 30, alongside headliner Russell Kane, Jeff Innocent and Tim Fitzhigham. The event starts on July 27 with headliner Hal Cruttenden, joined by Tiff Stevenson, Abandoman and David Morgan. Mark Watson headlines July 28, with Ian Stone, Jonny & The Baptists and Damian Clark; while Terry Alderton tops the bill on July 29, with Sean Collins, Ninia Benjamin and John Mann.
Promising the perfect blend of ludicrous characters, witty one-liners, epic stories, and explosive physicality, The Noise Next Door tell us more…
Have would you describe your comedy?
Pure, unadulterated entertainment.
How do you put together a set for an event like Laugh in the Park?
Pretty much the same way as we put together any set. But with a couple of Norwich based gags in the wings, ready to rock.
You have an uncanny knack of transforming audience suggestions into fantastically funny scenes and songs. Has a suggestion ever left you stumped?
Nothing has ever stumped us a group, but as individuals we get thrown all the time. It's then down to the rest of us to sacrifice the uniformed cretin to the comedy gods and mock them mercilessly.
What's the weirdest audience suggestion ever?
One person's weird is another one's normal, so we tend to revel in and remember creative suggestions. Children are usually the best at obliterating the obvious, so much so that in the past we've been asked to base an entire scene on top of a baked bean or, rather impressively, to murder the king of Africa with a blunt knife because they invented a poo machine. Genius.
What's the biggest misconception about improv comedy?
That it isn't an form of it's own right. Stand-up has very much earned itself recognition for being a theatrical art form, and yet improv in this country is still often seen as a pretentious thing student actors do to help flesh out a role. Improv comedy, at it's best, is one of the purest forms of entertainment. An audience can quite literally shout out something they want to see, and before their very eyes the suggestion is immediately lampooned, mimicked, revered or satirised.
You're no stranger to Norwich having toured here recently. Do we have any regional comedy quirks?
Regional quirks are often confined to negative stereotypes. Quite beautifully, Norwich escapes these - we've only ever had very pleasant audiences who appreciate and applaud and laugh and cheer in all the right places. Maybe this means that because Norwich is so far away from anywhere else, it's people are just delighted that performers made the effort to be there! That's quite a nice quirk to have.
Do comedians mix at a comedy festival like Laugh in the Park or is there one-upmanship and rivalry?
The one-upmaship and rivalry is generally only in jest, but it's probably there, bubbling underneath! Comedians certainly mix at festivals. We're often hanging backstage joking about our worst gigs ever, or, and this is especially true of festivals, enjoying watching each other perform.
• Laugh in the Park takes place at Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich, from July 27-30, £22 adv/£25 door, 01603 508050, www.redcardcomedyclub.com
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