Starship trooper finds inner geek for impro theatre

But for the next two days, Jay Laga'aia isn't at all certain who he'll be. And that, as far as he's concerned, is the beauty of impro theatre.

''It's like getting a monkey to drive a truck with you sitting in the back,'' he said.

''You have no idea, you can only trust this monkey knows where he's going.

''They might tell you that you can only do your scenes standing on one foot, and only using two words at a time.''

Laga'aia is acting in Starship Odyssey alongside Canberra's unscripted theatre actors at The Street Theatre tomorrow and on Saturday. Laga'aia is bringing down some sci-fi themed prizes.

The sci-fi impro show promises to take its audience on a journey into the great unknown. A team flies at warp speed into trouble from alien races and within their own ranks. Before the ship sets sail into outer space, you can see troops put through their paces in Space Academy and pass judgment on who deserves to attain the rank of captain.

''This show is great because there's a geek in everybody,'' Laga'aia said.

The impro actor since 1987 said this kind of performance sometimes made him laugh, albeit sometimes out of fear rather than hilarity.

''It becomes second nature,'' he said. ''Audiences love it because they give you the building blocks for you to create with. They know it's not rehearsed. We ask for an object and they say 'a toilet brush', they ask for a location and they say, 'Egypt'.''

For Laga'aia the trick to impro is to learn to crash and burn on stage without fear.

''Your monkey drives into another truck. You deal with it. It's a philosophy for life in general. I found once I didn't fear the idea of failure on stage, the world opened up.''

Besides impro, he's also busy with his one-man children's show.

''I'm the black Wiggle,'' he joked. ''I'm the Waggle.''