Northampton teacher scoops first prize at national comedy festival awards ceremony

A Northampton primary school teacher and the show she is part of won a gong at a recent national comedy awards ceremony.

Jen Kenny, who is a teacher at Stimpson Avenue Academy, was one of the performers of an improvised comedy show called The Extraordinary Time Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

The show won Best Children’s Show at the recent Leicester Comedy Festival Awards ceremony 2020, which was held virtually.

The 47-year-old said: “Despite the pandemic, the performers still dressed up to the nines at home waiting for the results.

“Show director, Nigel Lovell had secretly recorded an acceptance speech on behalf of us all in case we won. We had no idea but were delighted to win.”

The improvised comedy show, that has also been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, is inspired by the fictional character Baron Munchausen who loves to tell exaggerated stories.

It is performed by a team of improvisers and comedians who regularly perform the show at venues across the country.

Jen added: “It’s a very interactive show. Children and adults will come on stage and help in acting out the story. For example at the show in Leicester this year, two little boys came on stage and dressed up as Ant and Dec.

“Children love joining in and once they have seen their Dad come up on stage, it gives them the confidence to take part themselves.”

Loosely based on one of 99 storylines, there is no script and the story can take on surprising new twists based on the audience’s suggestions and the improvisers’ imagination.

“It’s completely improvised. We might ask the audience, ‘What’s the name of the country again?’,” Jen continued.

“A child will shout out a random country - it could be real such as Turkey or make-believe like Jellyville.

“We’ll bring the children out, dress them up and they’ll join in too!”

Jen, who teaches year six and Stimpson Avenue Academy, encourages her class to get involved too.

She said: “I love teaching improvisational comedy skills to both adults and children. We have an improv club here at school where we learn the basics of improv comedy.

“It’s great for the children, helping them to express themselves, to listen, build strong teams and become more resilient.

“This crisis is teaching us all how to improvise a little better.”

On government advice the comedy troupe has had to cancel the remainder of its national tour this year, including a show that was due to be performed in Northampton, that is now awaiting a rearranged date.

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