The Suggestibles

The Suggestibles is a British improv comedy group, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Formed in 2003 at Live Theatre they went on to find a following at their home venue, The Cumberland Arms in the Ouseburn Valley, playing there every month and, since 2011, also monthly at The Stand Comedy Club. The group have also played regular residencies at The Hyena, Black Swan and The Mixer in Jesmond.

The group has a core team of players (in 2018 this is currently Bev Fox, Ian McLaughlin, Carl Kennedy, Tom Walton and Rachel Glover) and are usually accompanied by Alex Ross, an improvising musician, and often a special guest from other UK improv companies. Previous core members of the team have included Gary Kitching and Chris Price. Guest players have included Niall Ashdown, Victoria Elliott, Stephen Frost, Paula Penman, Lee Simpson, Andy Smart, Steve Steen, Richard Vranch, Stella Duffy, Suki Webster and Tony Slattery.

Their regular show usually consists of two 45 minute sets, with improv games and short forms in the first half, and "Aspects" - a long form (or narrative) improvised musical[1] in the second.

The group's roots can be traced to 1992, when founder members Bev Fox and Ian McLaughlin created 'The Impro Panto' with a mini London tour (sponsored by Cadbury's) at the Arts Theatre, BAC, Gate and Banana. The group present their "Impro Pantso",[2] an improvised pantomime, every Christmas at both Northern Stage and the Cumberland Arms.[3] which now also tours additional venues including Gala Theatre in Durham, Seaton Deleval Arts Centre, Hexham Queens Hall, Washington Arts Centre and Alnwick Playhouse.

On 23 April 2005 The Suggestibles were the winning team at London's Globe Theatre in Ken Campbell's Shakespearean improv tournament: Shall We Shog? beating teams from London and Liverpool. They have also performed at Bristol Jam, an annual improv festival held at the Bristol Old Vic, since its inception in 2009.

Away from the stage, the Suggestibles have an online following for their videos and live improv clips. They won a Royal Television Society Award in 2008 for Pour Quoi (a skit on Parkour) which was an overnight YouTube hit with over 800,000 views there. The team also presented a live radio show on NE1FM for six months in 2008.

Two founder members of the group, Bev Fox and Ian McLaughlin, also teach improv skills for personal and business development, as Suggestibles' School of Improv.

Notes
  1. Founder members Bev Fox and Ian McLaughlin were also original members of The Impro Musical Company (founded by Alan Marriott) which was the first improv group in the world to create a full-length improvised musical at the Gate in London in 1989, playing at The Fortune Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, Donmar, Arts Theatre, Gate, and touring Europe and the UK throughout the 90s. The show was adapted as the "Bootleg Broadway Show" for series on ITV (Tyne Tees) and BBC Radio 4.
  2. The Impro Pantso was first performed at Live Theatre in 2004
  3. "The Suggestibles go panto". The Crack. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
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