Ghosts and Taskmaster star talks Glasgow, making improv cool again and his show's wildest story

Kiell-Smith-Bynoe, star of shows such as Taskmaster and Ghosts, will take his Kool Story Bro show around the country in April and May - with his aim to Make Improv Kool Again.

Kiell said: “I’ve been trying to push the slogan Make Improv Kool Again but apparently that ‘doesn’t have a ring to it’.

“I’m very excited to take Kool Story Bro on tour around the country and bring the audience’s stories to life, joined by the best improvisers on the world (it is on, think about it) and some huge special guest hosts from the world of TV.

“I’m also just really looking forward to sleeping in different Premier Inn’s. Lenny Henry makes it look proper comfortable.”

The improvised sketch show brings top comedians together to act out the audience’s stories, making every show truly unique.

Kiell will play a string of dates around the country, including Glasgow’s Glee Club on Wednesday, 7 May 2025. We caught up with him ahead of the run of shows and here’s what he had to say.

Glasgow World (GW): Your show, Kool Story Bro, it's an improv show and that's your background going back quite a bit, isn’t it?

Kiell Smith-Bynoe (KSB): That’s right in front of a live audience, since I was about 14.

GW: You've done so much in the last few years, like Stath Lets Flats and Ghosts. I suppose in those places, you are kind of allowed to improvise to an extent, but is it nice just to be able to get back out and do it in front of an audience?

KSB: “Yeah, definitely like stepping onto a stage where there's no costume, no set, no props, no tech, is really fun and really exciting, because you can make anything happen. You can create this world yourself, and it's just about the imagination, and you get to really just play with it. That's not really something you can do when you're sort of in an old stately home or in an estate agents, you are where you are, and that is the setting that you've created. You can work within those boundaries, whereas when you're improvising with a blank canvas, you have no boundaries, so you can just take it wherever you want, within reason. But the idea is that whatever stories we get from the audience, we can place them anywhere in the world and still make it funny.

GW:The way the show is structured, with a focus on audience anecdotes, it must be so important to have a good crowd as well, or it must be a good challenge depending on the audience you've got?

KSB: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's always going to be a challenge, because you never know what sort of audience you're going to get. Also, you never know what kind of stories you're going to get.

I mean, this hasn't happened yet. I don't feel like anyone has deliberately lied to tell a story that they think is interesting, but I think what we've had so far have been really fun, exciting stories that people remember, and it's another reason for people to talk about the show and come back again. Because, A, the story that's been told is really interesting. B, what we've done with the story is really interesting, and C, it has been hilarious. So, yeah, hopefully that keeps, that's what keeps people coming back.

GW: Have there been any stories that you've been you've encountered so far that stuck out?

KSB: At the last Edinburgh Fringe a guy told a story about how he got arrested for leaving a voicemail threatening to a dog. He went on a skiing trip, and he kept his key in his glove whilst he was skiing, his key for his chalet and there was a dog there that, for some reason, latched onto his glove and ripped it off.

He lost his front door key and then couldn't get into where it was that he was staying. The owner was really apologetic, and offered their number and said that he should get in touch with them, and would reimburse him. He saved the owner's number, and obviously never got in touch and managed to sort himself out.

But 10 years later, he was drunk on a date, and he remembered that he had the guy's number, and then he called the guy and left a voicemail.

So, he got a call from the police saying that they wanted him to come into station, for threatening the dog. It's amazing. At no point did we understand where the story was going. It was just constant, just every turn. But like that as a starting point is so much fun and gives us loads to work with.

GW: You've been a bit regular at the Edinburgh Fringe. I think I saw you saying that you hadn't missed it up until the start of COVID?

KSB: Yeah, I started in 2015 and excluding 2020 and 2021, I think I've done them all.

GW: Do you think you get particularly good audiences at the Fringe for things like this? Because, a lot of people are definitely coming for the improv type shows?

KSB: I first went up to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015 with a show that I was doing called Battleacts, and that was a show on the Free Fringe that we did on Cowgate. We would have such a great time. It was a late night improv show where we’d do improv games, and it's sort of a bit more traditional, the more traditional improv that you see on TV, like, Whose Line Is It Anyway?

We used to have such a great time with that, but I wanted to create a long form show which wasn't just suggestions from the audience, but it was more about getting the whole story from the audience and that there is no way that we could have rehearsed it. So that's why I wanted to create this show. The very first time we did the show was at the Edinburgh Fringe, and realised that we were onto something. So it just kept coming back there.

GW: Speaking of rehearsals, it must be so difficult to sort of prepare for a tour like this, because you literally don't know what you're going to get or what the audience is going to even be like on the night.

KSB: Yeah, there's no preparation that you can do. We do warm up games before we go on stage, but that's just because the show is so late. So to get you back into the improv state of mind, and also, just to make sure that you're listening or feeding each other, it's just about being in sync, really. That's what the warm up games are for. But yeah, there's, there is no way that you can really prepare.

GW: One of the things that stood out is your line about ‘Make Improv Cool Again’. Do you think it does have a bit of a reputational issue?

KSB: I think people have seen bad improv done a lot, and I think that when you've seen it done badly once, you assume that all improv can be as bad as that. Don't get me wrong, there are some very good improv around as well. Showstopper, for example, is incredible. I've done shows with the Comedy Store players, they've been brilliant. And Austentatious is a really successful show. The Free Association have a bunch of great shows in Edinburgh, but I think that people, when they hear the term improv, are instantly turned off by it. I have been too. I've said yes to some shows, and I've taken part in them, and realized that the standard is nowhere near as good as what I've been used to and spoiled by doing shows like Battleacts and Acting Up.

I do think that it is a bit more of a harder sell, improv. That's why I'm doing so much work with the clips online, and filming each show and trying to get those clips out there, because I want people to see the input can be A, really good and B, really, really funny. But as well as the clips do online, that's fine, but it's about being in the room. And we want people to be in the room and understand that this is made up on the spot. It could be you that we bring your story to the stage and retell that. And that's what I'm trying to do, make sure that everyone leaves having had a good time.

GW: Just to tie it back to Glasgow, do you have any particularly fond memories of performing in Glasgow or being in Glasgow?

KSB: Yeah, I've been to Glasgow a few times. I did Richard at Osman's House for Games, you might see the trophies in the background [laughs]. I had some good nights out there. I used to go to the breakfast place that do the pancakes? Tribeca. I used to love a Tribeca the morning after.

And, I've been to see a few gigs at O2 [Academy] in Glasgow as well. So I've got really fond memories of Glasgow.

When I was younger, I went up to Glasgow to watch something being filmed, maybe Gladiators or something like that, one of those sort of big ITV Saturday night shows. So I've got really fond memories of Glasgow, and I'm really looking forward to performing there. I've only performed in Scotland, in Edinburgh. So I'm really looking forward to the difference that you get in Glasgow.

Full Dates:

10 April - Bristol Old Vic

11 April - Cardiff Sherman Theatre

12 April - Brighton Dome (Corn Exchange)

17 April - Leeds City Varieties

18 April - Norwich Playhouse

19 April - Norwich Playhouse

20 April - Chelmsford Chelmsford Theatre

23 April - Liverpool St. George’s Hall (Concert Room)

24 April - Salford The Lowry (Quays Theatre)

25 April - Birmingham Town Hall

26 April - Sheffield Foundry

01 April - Northampton Royal &Amp; Derngate

04 April - Machynlleth Comedy Festival

07 April - Glasgow Glee Club

08 April - Newcastle Northern Stage

22 April - London Soho Theatre Walthamstow