Ladies & Gentlemen, Drew Leavy (applause)

It is with immense regret that I hear of the passing away of Drew Leavy. For a long while I have considered Drew to be my favourite improviser of all time; totally fearless on stage, elegantly dark-humoured and in possession of a wit-speed you can only dream of keeping up with. Drew was a truly brilliant improviser, and you could see him truly improvising when he performed. You could actually witness him starting to speak without knowing where he was heading. Every sentence was as much a journey for him as the audience he traveled with, but he took you along with generosity and warmth.

The only line I have ever remembered from an impro show belonged to Drew. During a Grand Theft Impro show at The Wheatsheaf last year the guys were creating a story about a maypole dancer. Drew was monologising in character about when he first found maypole dancing, "... and there I was," he said, the words falling into place before us as building blocks of the perfect sentence,

"dancing like a bitch on a prison dick."

Everything I find funny about improv happened in that sentence, and I remember the minute detail of his stance gazing into the middle-distance as if in dream-like recollection, totally committed. People don't often laugh as hard as that room-full of people did right then.

Drew's battle for health was extraordinary. While others looked on as horrific things were happening to his body, Drew outwardly treated his sickness in the same way as his impro, like a journey of discovery. Never can anyone have seen such a funny side of soiling yourself, or used such frightening body scars to lighten the mood, or turned astonishing weight-gain into the happiest cartoon character. And do it all with a warmth of spirit that spread for miles.

I knew him very briefly and admired him from a distance, but I was touched by his positivity, humanity and grace. Everything I work at being better at as an improviser, Drew had built in as part of his nature. Drew was the ultimate clown, the ultimate improviser. He was a magician, a nut-case and we can only ever learn from his exploration of the nonsense and wonder of our world.

Drew, you were magnificent. Thank you for making me laugh.

- Jonathan