What If? Improvising Your Alternate Universe

Reviewed by Arthur Bullock

The vibe of What If? Improvising Your Alternate Universe is “endless possibilities.”

It's a question many people ask themselves from time to time: What if this, what would have happened if I hadn't done that? Normally, all you can do is imagine, since there’s no real way to see what might have been if things had played differently.

In What If, however, a group of improvisers aims to do exactly that. What If opens with an introduction by one of the improvisers and a bit of interaction with the audience. Then they bring in a guest storyteller who tells an improvised story about themselves on the spot, which the improvisers then use as the basis for their show.

It’s long-form improv, which means everyone keeps the same characters from start to finish, and narrative choices stick around once someone commits to them. The show is assisted by the nearby tech booth, where the lights and sound are just as improvised as the actual scenes.

That, combined with the guest speaker who gets things started, makes for a chaotic combination of factors that provide as many chances to make something up as possible.

It’s worth noting, however, that the audience doesn’t get to participate in that process. While that’s far from unheard of — and standard fare for the majority of theatre performances — it’s something to be aware of if you’re used to forms of improv where the audience shouts out offers. Improv is the ideal way of exploring the question of What If; after all, every improv scene is different, and even in the Fringe, you’ll never see the same one twice.

Improv scenes are full of moments where the slightest change can alter the course of the scene, or even a whole improv show. It’s a unique opportunity for a fringe-goer; you can see the same show as many times as you want, and something different will happen every time. Even if you only see it once, though, you’re guaranteed to get something good.

Event Details

Age Suitability: Parental Guidance (ages 13+)

Genre: Theatre—Comedy, Sketch Comedy/Improv, Storytelling/Solo Show

Run Time: 60 mins

Cast:

Bradley Doyle, Brie Watson, David Lahti, Dina Senior, Heather Eyman, Natasha Bromfield

Warnings

Sexual Content, Coarse Language, Violence