High-energy improvised storytelling show where the audience provides words and phrases for a spontaneous adventure, presented by MissImp.
Ersatz Natterjack: Spontaneous Story Machine comes to The Malt Cross on Saturday 7 November, as part of the Nottingham Comedy Festival 2026. It's presented by MissImp, and the whole thing is built around improvised storytelling: one performer, two books, and no plan. The stories are woven on the spot, driven by the audience, who throw in randomly selected words and phrases to steer where the narrative goes. It's high-energy and completely off-the-cuff, so you're watching it being made up as it happens.
MissImp is Nottingham's longest continuously running improvised theatre company outside of London, and they celebrated their 20th anniversary back in 2018. They've been at this a long time, and that experience comes through in the way they handle the spontaneity. David Escobedo of The Improv Boost called it 'maybe one of the best improv shows I've ever seen'.
The performance runs for an hour and is recommended for ages 18 and over. It's one of the shows making up the Nottingham Comedy Festival 2026, so it sits alongside a wider run of comedy across the city that month.
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It starts at 9pm, with doors open from 8.40pm, at The Malt Cross, 19 St James's Street, NG1 6FG. Tickets are £7 in advance and £8 on the door.
