Hot Cross Men: An Improv Hour is hitting Pembroke New Cellars this week (or at least it is as long as someone from the audience suggests it). As the title is almost entirely non-descriptive, and the subtitle little better, we sent Varsity’s newest and least qualified journalist to find out more. Colin Rothwell interviews the cast: Ted Hill, Haydn Jenkins, and Colin Rothwell.

CR: Well, to start us off, what exactly is Improv?

HJ: Wow, what a great question.

TH: When Del Close, heroin-addict and founder of the great Chicago school of Improv was on his death-bed, he said, ‘Tell them we have created the theatre of the heart’. If that doesn’t tell you everything, I don’t know what will.

CR: Improv is where the performers don’t come on with anything they’re going to say prepared. Frequently this involves getting input from the audience for inspiration.

CR: So what’s your show about?

TH: Hot Cross Men will be the culmination of my comedy career in Cambridge, coming a year and a half after I graduated and left the city.

HJ: Sorry, what show? Is this about Spring Revue? I’m Footlights Vice President.

CR: The show is basically just us the three of us on stage, making stuff up to try to get the audience, and each other to laugh.

CR: When you say fully improvised—

TH: Everything you see comes from the now. It will be derived from the ambiance of the room, and developed in synergy with the audience.

HJ: Personally, I always feel that I do better with my pre-written material, which you can see at biweekly Footlights Smokers.

CR: Yup, we come on with no idea what we’re going to do or be – no jokes planned, no characters planned, no scenes planned.

CR: Do you have a story or theme to the show? Games, like in Whose Line is it Anyway?

TH: We have burned away everything that taints the purity of this, greatest of art-forms, purest of comedies. Including two cast members who were previously going to be in the show with us.

HJ: What is ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’?

CR: Nope, we’ve tried to make this as structureless as possible. We’ve got a few little games to take inspiration from the audience, but then just try to spin off as many ideas as possible from that.

TH: How do you practise for something like Improv, if it just has to be made up?

TH: We find a space, and then we see where the spontaneity takes us.

CR: Basically, we make up example answers that audience members might give, and then use that as our inspiration. We improve with practise, even if we can’t ever actually re-use the same jokes.

CR: Has it been difficult to practise, with Ted living in London?

TH: Yes.

HJ: Yes.

CR: Yes.

CR: Is there a reason there’s only three of you performing?

TH: For some reason, I struggle to make friends.

HJ: There are eleven people in the Footlights Spring Revue.

CR: We’ve done a lot of improv together in the past, we know we really get on personally, and we make each other laugh a lot. Doing an hour with only three people is really hard work, but hopefully it will pay off.

CR: Before we go, if people like the sound of this, is there any more Improv in Cambridge they can go and see?

TH: I wouldn’t know. I live in London.

HJ: What? I don’t think so.

CR: No. (Editors note: We have found that the Cambridge Impronauts, which all three Hot Cross Men have performed with repeatedly in the past appear to have several shows on this term. We can only guess at the trio’s reason for silence.)

Review: Hot Gay Time Machine

CR: Well, thank you all for your time.

TH: Any time used to spread the word of Improv is time well spent.

HJ: Come and see the Footlights Spring Revue, ADC Theatre Week 5 Mainshow.

CR: I am literally you. I wrote all of this, pretending to be four people, two of which are me.

Hot Cross Men: An Improv Hour runs from Thurs 9th – Sat 11th Feb, in Pembroke New Cellars at 9:30pm