Liverpool actor will create 302 characters in 302 minutes for charity improv show

A Liverpool actor is going to be creating 302 characters in 302 minutes for a charity improv show … straight after running the Liverpool Half Marathon!

Trev Fleming, who’s known for his voiceover work, especially on video games, will take quick-fire one-word audience suggestions to create a new character every 55 seconds.

The event, at Arts Bar Hope Street on Sunday, March 15, will raise money for Safe In Our World, a cause that’s close to Trev’s heart.

The main aim of Safe In Our World is to raise mental health awareness worldwide, especially within the gaming sector, promoting conversations so more people feel able to reach out for help if they need it.

Trev is going to be supported in his challenge by guests from across the UK world of improv, including Liverpool Improv Festival organisers Dr Mark Smith and Jen Hardy, and Nana Funk herself, Angie Waller.

The show will begin at 3pm, with six episodes of 50 minutes each starting on the hour, and a 10-minute break in between. The last episode kicks off at 8pm.

With almost 20 years of improv experience, alongside a wide-ranging CV of voiceover work – he did one video game where he played 50 different characters -audiences can expect to see their words translated in all kinds of different ways.

Trev said:

“It’s not going to be Whose Line Is It Anyway for six hours, it’ll be character-based, that’s the main thing,” Trev explains. “There’ll be some poignant moments and some sadder ones, but overall it’ll be a funny experience with some outrageous scenarios.

“I’m the only person doing every single scene, but it’s not a six-hour one-man show. I’ll have scene partners there who’ll help guide me away from repetition and they’ll aid in the scenes and be characters I can bounce off to help me out.

“When people arrive, they’ll find a pencil and paper on their seat so they can write down their words and put them in a hat.

“Then I’ll come on stage, ask for the first word and the first scene will be inspired by that. After 55 seconds or so a bell dings, a new word gets read out and we do it again and again, 300 more times.”

Trev says most words are fair game – the main rule of the show is that he can’t know any of them in advance.

“People do generally come armed with plenty ideas because they like it when theirs gets read out and most of the time the audience wants to work with me, so they’ll suggest interesting words for me.

“Hyphenated is fine, but usually just a single word, and I’m OK with swear words but not slurs or anything offensive because it’s a safe inclusive space. Ultimately, it’s a silly show to raise money for a very good charity that I believe in, hopefully people will laugh at my pain and everyone has a good time.”

The improv marathon won’t be Trev’s first challenge of the day – in the morning, he’ll be running the Liverpool Half Marathon, also for Safe In Our World, so he’s got a pretty quick turnaround once he crosses the finish line at the Pier Head.

He jokes he’s “not one of nature’s athletes”, anticipating a time of just over 3hrs, so the Arts Bar stage will be much more in his comfort zone. Each session is ticketed individually, but Trev’s hoping there will be some audience members who commit to the full 302 minutes.

“In Liverpool, we have a history of doing improv-athons and people would come for an episode in the afternoon, get hooked and end up there for the next 18 hours, so it would be wonderful if people stayed for this whole show.”

Find out more about Safe In Our World here.

Find out what’s on in Liverpool this week here

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