When faced with the option to see a show where a man describes a room, it’s easy to feel trepidatious! However, when discovering the room is being described by the improv veteran David Elms, one’s interest piques.

Presented in the Baby Grand as part of The Pleasance line up at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the excited crowd takes it’s seats in a small box space capable of seating around only sixty. The venue is intimate and the staging, with seating on three sides, is simplistic bearing only a single beaten-up chair. The layout presents a perfect blank canvas for our imaginations to take flight on a unique mental journey with Mr Elms as the pilot.

David Elms has such a gentle and calming disposition that when he asks you to partake in the process of helping to create this made-up mind palace, you feel completely at ease and safe in his non-judgemental, welcoming arms.

He asks for ideas from the audience and between us we create a unique, large room. When faced with on the spot suggestions, you can imagine the sort of ridiculous offerings audience members may produce once they get over the initial panic of being gestured to. Without revealing too much, once the room has been communally created and successfully imagined, Elms brings us in for a safe landing with an incredibly satisfying finale.

This is the best (only) ‘Describe a Room’ show I’ve ever seen… but I’ve been left desperate to experience another imagined room by David Elms. He is a master of improvisation with a sharp wit and an incredible brain. Go see this show – don’t be put off by the title – it’s a one-off experience like no other and you won’t be disappointed!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️