EDINBURGH 2016 - Review: THE MMORPG SHOW, Gilded Balloon At The Counting House, 7 August

If you've ever thought that what the Fringe needs is a room full of people cheering numbers on a rolling dice, then your search is over. Paul Flannery, known to nerdy Fringe-goers as Treguard from Knightmare Live, is our guide through an hour of role-playing and comedy in The MMORPG Show. MMORPG, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, is something of a misnomer in the title, as this is usually applied to the likes of World of Warcraft or Everquest. Instead, this production is far more in the vein of Dungeons and Dragons and other dice-based tabletop role-playing games.

The show opens with an observational comedy set given a high fantasy twist designed to put the audience at ease, as much of the show depends on their input. Three audience volunteers are selected to play through a generic fantasy quest that is spiced up with further suggestions from the audience - at one point our heroes were ambushed by two apostrophes and a semi-colon, for example. The path of the story depends on the choices of volunteers and, of course, the all important rolls of the giant 20-sided dice.

As with any improv-based show, the quality will depend on the suggestions given and, especially in this case, on the Audience members chosen for the quest. Games like Dungeons and Dragons invariably take a long time to advance a story, making it very difficult to accomplish such an experience within the confines of an hour-long Fringe show and leaving the plot feeling more than a little thin. Despite this, Flannery was able to keep the show flowing reasonably well - knowing when to stick to the game format and when to let things proceed more naturally, even when the format gave us the most epic game of Hungry Hungry Hippos you are ever likely to see.

There were people in the audience who had not played role-playing games (RPGs) before, but it is likely to be fans who get the most out of it. For those who don't know RPGs, everything about the format is suitably accessible. For those who do, it's simplified enough that the show doesn't get bogged down in calculating dexterity modifiers, leaving you free to enjoy the comedy. If you fancy your chances against a giant light-up dice and you like the sound of interactive comedy for nerds, check out The MMORPG Show.

The MMORPG Show is at Gilded Balloon at the Counting House until August 28 (not 15) at 21:30

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