Review: Shoot From the Hip, EdFringe

It is often said of theatre that no two shows are ever quite the same and this is especially true with improvised comedy, making it hard to review. It is challenging to pick out standout moments – of which this show has a number – since they will not be repeated in a future performance (though they canbe watched again on the performers’ YouTube channel).

Shoot From the Hip are a four-man improvised comedy troupe ordinarily based in London and popular online, with almost two million followers on TikTok. Their show consists of a series of brief improv games, which are followed up by a longer short play, the inspiration for all of which comes directly from the audience. The snappy short scenes serve as a good way to warm the audience up to the sort of show they are about to see and the longer play is naturally ambitious given the attempt to tie a story with a three-part structure together without knowing their next move.

A large part of the appeal stems from the chemistry the performers have with one another – it is evident they have been doing this together for a long time, there are moments during which the way they appear to flip to the page another person is on without exchanging a word is almost uncanny (and the moments in which they fail to do so provide a great deal of humour).

The team acknowledge how fortunate they are to be able to play to a crowd so large (the Pleasance Grand holding around seven hundred people) as improv comics, and the image of this group having gone from small pub venues to selling out large theatres paints a rather striking picture of the Edinburgh Fringe (and indeed the power of the internet).This vast setting, however, does remove some of the intimacy a smaller venue would have provided: in a sea of seven hundred, the chances of your suggestion being heard, let alone selected by the performers, are rather slim, and a show of this nature would perhaps be better served by more shows in a smaller venue as opposed to only four in a large one.

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I do regret that, as this was their last performance of the Fringe and I am based in Edinburgh, I won’t be able to see the next one they do!

Produced by: Shoot From the Hip

Shoot From the Hip has completed its current run at EdFringe 2025. The show comes to London for various dates throughout 2025