About the Troupe
History
The Spontaneous Players were founded in Edinburgh in early 2015 under the name 'Spontaneous Sherlock'. This happened remarkably, on the street where Arthur Conan Doyle himself was born. The first performance took place in February 2015 in the basement of the Canons' Gait pub on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
Since then, The Spontaneous Players have performed regular sell-out shows in Edinburgh, have toured all across the UK, and in 2018 won the Scottish Comedy Award for Best Variety.
Cast
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The Spontaneous Players are a core team of some of the UK's most critically-acclaimed comedy improvisers.
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The current cast is Paul Connolly, Sam Irving, Mara Joy, Stu Murphy and Will Naameh.
Previous guest performers have included members of legendary improv troupes Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Baby Wants Candy and Chicago's Improvised Shakespeare.
Musicians
The shows feature a rotating band who improvise music alongside the action on piano, cello and violin, all led by our resident musical director and pianist Jenny Laahs. The musicians are drawn from such acclaimed Scottish groups as The Jellyman's Daughter, Pinlight and Ekobirds.
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The musicians are Jenny Laahs, Colin Bramwell, Graham Coe, Nick Lauener, Angus Munroe and Nicholas Thorne.
Celebrated Members and Guests
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The Spontaneous Players also has two celebrated members! Our good friends and founding members Nicola Dove and Eric Geistfeld.
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The Spontaneous Players also invites regular guest performers from the Scottish improv scene and beyond. Regular guest performers include members of award-winning improv groups
Men With Coconuts, Monday Night Improv and
TBC Improv.