Theatresports All Stars has returned to the Enmore Theatre for its glittering Ruby Anniversary. 40 years of mayhem, magic, and making it up as they go. What better way to close the Sydney Comedy Festival than with improv royalty serving up a night of unscripted brilliance?
Co-hosted by the marvelous Lisa Ricketts and Steve Lynch, this was no cutthroat brawl for the ever elusive Cranston Cup. Mercifully, no teams, no pressure, and not a single laminated scorecard in sight. Just raw, off the cuff improv glory that tossed structure out the window and ran entirely on instinct and imagination. The All Stars let loose what they do best. Crafting a plot, murdering the plot, and then pretending that was the plot all along. It was a night of full-blown, sausage sizzle fueled, stoush for glory. Meltdowns, mayhem, and a rogue rubber chicken.
We knew we were in for a treat the moment the cast made their entrance. An ad hoc Met Gala parody where high fashion met low budget hustle. Every outfit was held together by hope and hot glue. No sooner had they sat down than the madness kicked off, as the cast launched into eight rounds of classic improv games, rapid fire scenes and spontaneous songs, leaving the crowd laughing, gasping, and fully hooked.
The beauty of improv lies in its gift for unearthing the ridiculous in the everyday. Where else could you hear a heartfelt ballad titled “HECS Debt Blues” (complete with tight harmonies), witness a Shakespearean tragedy over a parking ticket, or see neighbours wage a recycling war under the glow of a streetlamp on bin night?
It wasn’t just the gloriously ridiculous setups that kept us howling. It was the cast’s lightning fast wit and fearless commitment that made every scene gleam like disco balls at a demolition derby. It’s the storytelling that holds all this glorious chaos together, making the physical comedy truly sing.
In a night brimming with crème de la crème moments, here’s the cream skimmed from the top:
- "Love You" delivered a space opera starved of oxygen and bursting with melodrama. An astronaut floated outside, gasping, while inside, the captain and a malfunctioning AI bickered about buttons and protocols. Cue love confessions to both human and robot. The airlock was the star of the sketch. Honestly, it felt like Pigs in Space on a caffeine binge.
- Not to be outdone, three cast members crushed a round of ‘Expert Double Figurines’ (where one performer provides the hands for another while they explain something). One poor sucker played both sets of hands while the others argued and gaslit, the thrilling subject of tariffs with wild presidential poses. Even the driest topics got the full TheatreSports flair. It was utter brilliance.
- Audience participation hit an all-time high when Taylor and Max were drafted to provide live sound effects for an escape room scene. Think tap dancing, Bavarian clocks, strange squeaks, and ominous time calls. They nailed it… almost. If only they’d remembered one actor’s squeaky tin legs.
- Meanwhile, audience members Grahame and Amy’s accidental meet cute 60 years ago, featuring a dance club, a third wheel with an asthma attack, and a tragic escalator misstep, was hilariously re-enacted on stage. It ended with the audience chanting their names like they’d just headlined Woodstock.
- The evening was perfectly topped off with an “all in” Broadway style musical sparked by the audience prompt: “What was your childhood dream?” The look on Steve Lynch’s face when he heard “a lawyer” was priceless. To everyone’s credit, they ran full tilt with the irony. What followed was a jazz handed courtroom drama featuring the showstopper “Tell Me What You Didn’t Do” and a swinging number called “Guilty as Sin.” Litigation has never been so tuneful, or so entertaining.
If you’re reading this and thinking TheatreSports is completely batbonkers, you’d be absolutely right. That’s exactly why it works - equal parts genius and gibberish, where every curveball hits its mark. From audience rookies to improv junkies, no one was safe from the laughter. And if you think watching was wild, try surviving it on stage. Think you’ve got what it takes to improvise under pressure? Improv Australia’s classes are open. Enter at your own risk!
Reviewed by: Faith Jessel