If you love a good improv show, you know you need to have patience. Let a scene build, let the players evolve their characters and ignore the odd awkward silence, because if the laughs are there, you will forgive most anything.

Unfortunately, The Neighbourhood Watch's awkward silences far outweighed any belly laughs. The show started out promising, the players were game and the audience was more than eager to share suggestions. But once the players began crafting characters, the show hit the rocks. Audience participation was over and the improv fizzled out.

The show had glimmers of funny and a few players, notably Michael Barkman, were quick on their feet but as soon as a scene started to gain a bit of momentum, it stopped and went in another direction. Not in a good way, either. By show's end this longform improv didn't have much of a story to chuckle about.

Except for one guy named Pickles MacPherson who ate a warm danish and was always on fire. Fire as in burning with flames, and not fire as in this show is hot.