Talent, brand, IP and media management
This is ad lib
spontaneous genius
- Five successful nights at Edinburgh
- Sharp minds, smart comedians
- Major sponsorship opportunity
- more...
Welcome to ad lib
some of the greatest things that human beings have ever said, thought or produced happened spontaneously. This is true for everything from genius to silliness. With that in mind we launched the ad lib experience on stage at the Assembly Hall during the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 to full houses and standing ovations. We successfully created a forum that encourages and fosters spontaneous genius through surprising conversation between three people: two guests (with complementary talents) and a host.
The principal guest could be writer, artist, academic, musician, poet, campaigner, philosopher, sportsman or politician. The other guest is a comedian - and a comedic fan of the principal guest.
Highlights from ad lib in Edinburgh
Edinburgh confirmed that the format works when the 'two' are writer and comedic fan (Steven Moffat with Frank Skinner hosted by Fred MacAulay) and also when they are both comedians (John Bishop and Jason Manford hosted by Andrew Maxwell). As the comedians were fans, the anecdotes were rich in detail and knowledge, providing hugely informative and entertaining moments for a fan based audience. The latter's enjoyment was further heightened by the opportunity to ask questions for the final fifteen minutes. And there were some revelations, such as this performance from Jason Manford.
Click here for more highlights.
Talking about ad lib
Encouragingly everyone who appeared on stage loved the experience. John Bishop tweeted 'great concept' shortly afterwards and Sarah Millican tweeted 'Lovely time at ad lib. A great end to my Fringe'.
Audience tweets included:
'Once in a lifetime show, very very funny'
'ad lib looks like a show I could see every night'
'ad lib - spread the word'
'Another defining event of my week. Brilliant stuff'
The press were also eager to hear what our guests had to say and went to town on Frank Skinner's interview with Stephen Moffat, the genius behind Sherlock and the revival of Doctor Who.
The opportunity
I have had interest from a remarkable range of talent: Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Clarkson, Johnny Vegas, Al Murray, Michael Hirst, Marcus Brigstock, Mark Watson... to name a few. An almost infinite set of possibilities for more spontaneous genius in surprising conversations creating great entertainment.
