TOD Talks follows a simple but daunting premise, lending from the mad libs manner by which your average TED Talk seems to be named (see the seemingly endless “I Was Raised in an ‘X’”s and “The Secret Power of ‘Y’”s) and audience suggestions provide six Perth comedians with the topics of expertise to wax eloquent about.

If that weren’t enough of a challenge, for the duration of their stage time the speakers must also find a way to make relevant the bevy of randomised PowerPoint slides being projected behind them. It’s worth mentioning that making sense is by no means a prerequisite, it just depends on how absurd your speaker is willing to get. 

With an improvised show, spoiling narrative elements is difficult to do. To give a sense of what you may experience; in the show that I saw there were talking points that ran the sophistication gamut, at turns tackling the bioethical concerns of owning radioactive pets while just as easily making room for celebration of the simple joys of one’s own farts. How deeply the topic is explored is completely at the discretion of each comedian, and the deftness with which each handles their charge is variable. With that said, being funny on command is a muscle that strengthens with repetition, so TOD Talks is almost certainly a show that will rise in quality across the duration of its run.

Reviewing a show that is improvised is unique in that the show that I saw is not the same show that you will see, save for the format. I’d venture that this is the appeal because there is intrigue inherent to not knowing exactly what you’re going to get out of the experience. Each comedian approaches their time to shine with something new to bring to the table, each comedian improvises in a way unlike the person before or after. With such variety in comedic leanings, there is truly something for everyone in TOD Talks.