The Noise Next Door

The Noise Next Door are a five piece improvised comedy group (Tom Houghton, Charlie Granville, Matt Grant, Tom Livingstone and Sam Pacelli), who have been performing together since 2005. They use audience suggestions to create sharp witted brilliant improvised performances, that show great intelligence and a real understanding of their genre of theatre. On Saturday night I was lucky enough to see them perform at The King's Head Theatre in Islington.

Usually I find stand-up comedy difficult to enjoy, and feel as an audience member a real pressure to be at ease with the act in order to find their material amusing. And so went into The King's Head prepared to be cynical. The theatre is a cosy space and worked well with boy's interaction style of performance.

I really loved every second of it. All five guys were hilarious and seemed to have their own strengths. Tom Houghton would sometimes pick up the guitar to provide the accompaniment for short improvised songs that were genius in their creation and projection. A particularly hilarious song of the night was the umpa-lumpa dance song that used the theme of murder mystery.

With The Noise Next Door the audience are crucial, anything goes, and it is that uncertainty and element of surprise that made their show so exciting to watch. The onstage dialogue between the five guys indicated the obvious chemistry, and their ability to laugh at themselves made their humour even more infectious.

Check out The Noise Next Door's website http://www.thenoisenextdoor.co.uk/

or find them on Facebook.