We ventured to The Komedia earlier this week to check out what I thought was a new show Improbotics. It was a full house! Turns out this comedy improv group which incorporates artificial intelligence into the mix with live performers is a well-kept secret as the venue was packed.
Having not been aware of the group before, I had no idea what to expect, but the group set up in 2016 and it turns out there is a big following in Brighton and internationally too, from both science and maths lovers, and comedy fans too. And rightly so, the show (different on each occasion due to the randomly generated content) made us howl with laughter from start to finish.
Improbotics was co-created by AI and robotics researchers Piotr Mirowski and Kory Mathewson alongside a cast of quick, and able internationally sourced performers. The show combines ideas from a previous troupe HumanMachine‘s Artificial Intelligence Improvisation, and from the classical improv game called Actor’s Nightmare or Lines From a Play. The show is like a version of Who’s Line it it Anyway mixed with I, Robot.
Co-hosted by French/Polish scientist Piotr, and robot A.L.Ex which stands for Artificial Language Experiment, this is both a science comedy show and a live Turing test. An artificial intelligence-based chatbot performs alongside a human cast, and tries to pass as human as it sends lines to one of the improvisers via an earpiece.
Advanced as this might sound, it made for some delightfully bizarre and unexpectedly comic exchanges and scenarios through a combination of audience participation, AI intervention and quick-witted performers.
Each round featured a different set up with technology including lenses to allow the actors to share A.L.Ex’s ‘feelings’ in live time to respond to their counterparts.
This talented bunch, many with both scientific, theatrical and improvisation experience created a witty, offbeat and light-hearted dynamic which encouraged engagement with the show. The audience lapped it up even with the off-kilter responses of robot A.L.Ex who for the record, no one should ever go on a date with!
Combining a stage full of performers, an enthusiastic robot A.L.Ex on a pedestal, a laptop, FM radio transmitter/receiver with headphones, and custom-made software which enables the operator to type sentences then sent to an artificial intelligence-based chatbot, this is rich feast of senses, including visual AI too. At times making no sense at all, and sometimes sounding incredibly profound in a Samuel Beckett way.
We loved this and would happily revisit this show many times more, given that each time is completely unique!
Shows are finished in Brighton now but they have a residency at Edinburgh Festival which if you’re in bonnie Scotland this summer, you should definitely pay a visit from 31 July-18 August 2024 for a three-week run of Artificial Intelligence Improvisation at Gilded Balloon Patter House at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
