Fringe hit Star Wars improv show lands today
Jon Hipkiss brings his sell-out Edinburgh Fringe improv show to Nottingham Arts Theatre today, creating a brand new Star Wars story live on stage with audience suggestions.
Morning briefing Nottingham
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Dry today
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Gusts 16 mph
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19:40
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Breezy today
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There are two chances to catch an improv show at the Nottingham Arts Theatre today. Jon Hipkiss, stand-up comedian and improviser, will make up an entire Star Wars movie on the spot, with suggestions shouted out by the audience. To add to the fun, this is also a one-man show.
Jon outlined the format of the show to Park Street Performing Arts Centre in an interview with them: "Every show is different. I do ten minutes of stand-up to get people comfortable with shouting things out. Then adverts, trailers. I ask, 'what kind of things would be advertised?"
Jon has previously played in Nottingham, but with a more traditional stand-up set. This time around, there's no script, and only the loose idea of "Star Wars" to hang this unprepared show off of.
A Star Wars Improv Show: The One-Man Made-Up Movie was Jon's Edinburgh Fringe act.
"The first day of Edinburgh last year, I woke up and I'll be completely honest, I thought 'what if it is not very good?' But then it worked. The next show we were half full. The next we were nearly full. Then we were sold out. I sold out every show after that," Jon said.
Jon describes himself as a "UPF", an ultra-passionate fan. So, it's not quite true that he's unprepared. He's armed with dozens of hours diving into the source material to work with.
"You don't need to be a Star Wars fan," he confirmed. "It's a family show, whether you're six, thirty-six, or ninety-six. Some great audiences were parents whose kids had found Star Wars on Disney+, maybe. The parents had no clue but they still got a kick out of it."
He is performing the show twice today: the first at 2pm and the second at 5pm. As the shows are entirely improvised, you could very well go to both. Tickets are available online for £9.
