Its safe to say that these “improv rockstars slash silly guys”– Tom, Luke, Sam, and AJ– did, indeed, shoot ferociously from their hips in their first show at Pleasance Grand. As they took to the stage to write a letter of complaint to the English, perform video game themed burlesque, and have Sam… dissolve, the guys were brilliantly quick and ready to risk it all. Two things they guarantee: you’ve never seen it before, and you won’t see it again.
Having sold out in 2023 and 2024, Shoot From The Hip returned to Edinburgh with fresh improv comedy that will have you belly-laughing in your seat and amazed at how they organically arrive to their bits. I’ve been following them online for over a year now, but I have to say it was even more beautiful watching the chaos unfurl live. You can actually see the gears turning in their heads, and it makes you appreciate how incredibly present they are to be able to build stories from the ground up, and snap a witty comeback without missing a beat.
They play a series of games in each show, surrendering themselves to the audience for opening suggestions. This usually gets out of hand. I, for one, was pleasantly confused watching AJ spin in the background for several scenes during the “Time Warp” game– only for it all to go unfortunately unnoticed by Luke and Sam. After this bit has painfully stretched on, Tom (acting as the controller of the Time Warp) finally resolved it by giving AJ a short flashback scene of when the ghost he was playing was murdered. It was totally unrelated to the whole plot, but we love AJ for it.
This ridiculous, audacious energy they carry as a group would not work without their brotherly sense of solidarity. As much as they like poking each other in the ribs, you can tell there’s actual love in it – not just in the way that they frequently make out with each other during shows (all straight men, by the way), but in the way that no one gets left behind.
Sitting in the central column, second row, I got to watch the performers interact with the audience up close. For their last game called “Party Quirks”, there was a young girl in the first row who spoke up first with a prompt, immediately catching Tom’s attention. When they explained their suggestion (huge respect to them for being bold), I saw Tom listening attentively– it was like the rest of the stadium ceased to exist. The genuine care they have for individual audience members exemplified how the human community should be, and I became an even bigger fan than I was before.
Shoot From The Hip had their last show in Edinburgh Fringe on 3 August, but you can find more content from them at the following locations online: Tiktok, YouTube, Instagram, and Patreon.
Image courtesy of Blue Book Artist Management, provided to The Student as press material
