When audience members are tasked with picking the victim, their occupation and what killed them for an improvised murder mystery comedy, you’re bound to end up with weird and wonderful – but mainly weird – suggestions.
“My favourite occupation was the composer of the Countdown theme tune and for murder weapon… this year in Edinburgh somebody said the victim was killed by their gas bill – very topical,” said Lee Apsey.
He is co-creator of CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation which is coming to Aberdeen as part of the city’s crime-writing festival Granite Noir.
Explaining the concept of the show in which no one knows who the killer is – not even the cast – Lee said audiences basically create their own murder. And as expected, they tend to suggest the “weirdest stuff they can think of”.
“We have had false teeth and rubber ducks as murder weapons and someone was also killed by a bicycle pump – that was very visual,” added Lee who created the engaging show with the Chandeliers, a professional improv theatre company based in London.
“And someone very elegantly said it was a goose feather that killed them – so obviously, the very first scene had to be how that gentle item was used in the most gruesome murder possible.”
Then, in the usual murder mystery manner, a few suspects are introduced and wannabe investigators in the audience join the detective to interrogate them, often asking a series of bizarre questions.
“Sometimes that’s very exciting – we get insightful questions, picking up on small details in the plot we’re creating on the spot,” said Lee, who has brought about 500 crime scene improvisation shows to venues all over the UK in nine years.
“But other times, it’s just the audience members bullying the cast – but both are equally fun.”
Lee, who also stars in the ever-changing show, said the cast made up of award-winning comedians, musical theatre actors and voiceover artists like to change things up and take turns as the show’s detective.
He said: “We rotate around a few different detectives – which is always fun. Every show is different, but so is each detective. We all have our different inner personalities and the sort of ways our brains work and we connect with the audience differently too.”
CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation will be part of Aberdeen’s Granite Noir
Once everyone seems guilty in the improvised whodunit, a member of the audience chooses who the killer is.
“And whoever they choose, we have to make it make sense,” explained Lee.
“They can decide they feel it’s too obvious it’s the cheating husband who always hated his wife and now has taken the money.
“Oh no, they want it to be the kind old gardener who so far in the show has shown no reason to do this and that performer will launch into a dramatic explanation that will definitely make sense.”
While many are eager to join in on the fun, fans of the crime genre are also welcome to just “sit back, relax and enjoy the show”.
“If you want to ask a lot of questions and get your suggestions in, that’s awesome, but if you just want to relax and laugh for an hour, that’s also great,” said Lee who’s excited to be bringing the Crime Scene Improvisation to Aberdeen for the first time.
“We’ve done the Edinburgh Fringe but we never made it to other parts of Scotland so it’s good to spread around.
“I’m also very excited at the idea to bring the show to a crime-writing festival. It feels like we’ll have the most expert crowd we’ve ever had.
“The point of festivals should be to gather people who have a passion and dig deep into it. There’s going to be a Poison Pen Workshop with E.S. Thomson at Granite Noir – it’s a two-hour event specifically about the use of poisons in crime fiction and that’s amazing.
“We’re doing two shows a day but I’ll try to beg, borrow, steal or sneak into every other event that I can.”
Crime-writing authors encouraged to attend
Lee, who has a background in filmmaking, told the P&J he started doing improv to “loosen up” and be more creative.
He said: “I found whilst writing that I would overthink and keep blocking myself, and doing all these shows made me realise that I can flow from a more subconscious and spontaneous place in my writing.
“So I think for writers at the crime-writing festival, this show may be really interesting to see and be a part of – as a balance to the more calculated parts of the process.”
But is Lee not worried that a budding author may borrow an idea that he and his team of performers create on the spot?
“Well, I used to write comedy pilots so I’m used to things being stolen,” laughed Lee.
“I think if people are worried about someone taking ideas, you just need to make sure that you can do them better – so it’s you that’s the secret sauce.”
CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation will be part of Granite Noir on Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26. There will be two shows on both days – at 2pm and 6pm – at The Big Sky Studio at the Music Hall. Tickets can be purchased here.
Inspired by the popularity of crime fiction in all its forms, Granite Noir is a crime-writing festival that celebrates the contribution of Scottish writers. Now in its seventh year, the festival will take place across Aberdeen venues from February 23 to 26. For more information, go to aberdeenperformingarts.com/granite-noir
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