CSI: CRIME SCENE IMPROVISATION - REVIEW

I love a bit of improv, it’s the epitome of the Fringe and the beauty of it is.. it’s different every time!

As you enter the space a whiteboard instructs the audience to begin thinking of a victim’s name, job, and unusual weapon. The audience decided on Porkie Ferdinand III, an avalanche engineer who was murdered with dental floss. One member of the cast guides the show by playing the detective, with the other four cast members playing our suspects. The audience was donned ‘Detective Clive’ and tasked with solving the mystery.

The cast is excellent, they are all in sync with each other and finish each other ideas instantaneously, working in harmony throughout. James Cann’s deadpan expressions elevated the humour of the show, and Nicola Lucey was a ball of energy with lots of great ideas and always has a funny response.

At times the pacing could have been improved, we spent rather a long time on certain ideas and scenes and I feel the detective could have guided this better to ensure a snappier show. Multiple scenes are improvised for us, displaying our suspects, and allowing us to become familiar with them. There is then a Q&A in which audience members can ask the suspects questions.

The ending felt slightly underwhelming for me, having the crowd just cheer to decide who the murderer is feels like a bit of a cop-out. I’ve watched improv like this before where a murderer is decided upon by envelopes handed to each cast member, one of which says murderer; which means we have to guess and try to work it out, rather than just choosing someone at the end.

CSI is completely random, and a fun way to spend an hour. I feel the formula could use some work, and I expected more hilarity than was provided – but the true brilliance of improv is that you’ll never get this exact show again, so who knows what it’ll be like when you go along!

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{🎟 AD – PR invite – Tickets were gifted in exchange for an honest review}

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