Brighton improv group The Noise Next Door offer their annual Comedy Lock-ins

They will be in action on Wednesday, August 24 at 8pm (doors 7pm) and also Wednesday, October 12 at 8pm (doors 7pm) – and will be back again for a Christmas special in December.

Tom Livingstone, from the company, is delighted to be back: “Everything we do is made up based on audience suggestions and on improvisations but with the comedy lock-ins what we do is that we get guests that are stand-up comedians on the circuit, people that are used to writing everything down first before they do it. They do a little bit of their own stand-up and then we get them involved in some of our scenes. We bring them out of their comfort zones a little bit and they love it. We get so many of them wanting to come back.”

Obviously it's the two extremes – the comedians that rely largely on memory and the improv stars who live by their wits: “Most people are more comfortable when they've written things down first but I feel so much happier just making it up as we go along. The great thing is that you get to give the audience exactly what they want to see. We don't have any agenda. We're just trying to have some laughs together and forget about the world and just do what people want. It is off the top of the audience's heads and it's off the top of our heads. We've just got to make it up as we go along and be funny and I love it. There's never a pressure on us. We just react to what we've got.”

It's a lot of heritage to carry after 14-15 years in the business, and obviously one of the pitfalls is unconsciously slipping into patterns: “But we know that if we start doing that then we've got to change something. As soon as it becomes formulaic you have to change it because it just becomes boring. Besides it's the greatest job. I get to spend time on the stage with three other guys that just make me laugh all the time.”

And even if maybe you're not quite in the mood, then the adrenaline rush of actually being on stage will take over: “And you realise you are absolutely up for it once you see the audience.”

The key with the comedy lock-ins is to adapt to the particular stand-up they have brought in: “If you've got somebody who is quite loud and brash then obviously you give them things to do that are quite loud and brash; if you have got someone who is quite physical then again obviously you give them something to do that is a bit physical. And when you get it right you end up doing some really brilliant things.”

One of the highlights for Tom was duetting with Tim Vine on a song in which he had fallen in love with Lake Windermere, and that is the real test – improvising a song.

“Most people will have something to say if they are in an improvised scene, like say they are at the dentists and they will start talking about the drill or whatever but the really difficult thing is improvising a song and it was brilliant with Tim.”