No one knows who the killer is, not even the cast!
Following multiple five-star sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation returns with another rip-roaring crime comedy made up entirely on the spot.
Who? What? How? The choice is yours in this fully-improvised, witty and absurd murder mystery where the audience creates the crime.
Solving made up crimes for over 12 hilarious years!
We sat down for an exclusive interview with Nicola Lucey to discuss her upcoming performance.
Tickets for upcoming performances can be found here.
What is it like being a part of a constantly evolving show like CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation?
It’s like playing a game you really enjoy which never finishes. Each show is so different as you’re always creating it afresh with a new audience, based on their suggestions. Even though we’ve been doing it 12 years now we still are creating new worlds we’ve never explored before and being inspired by fresh ideas. We have a format we’ve also evolved and improved that over the years. We’re always looking for ways to make the show better and to grow as improvisers which keeps it interesting and challenging to be a part of as a performer. Every show has a sense of discovery. Even after all these years, I can go on stage and genuinely have no idea what character I’m going to play, who I’m going to be interacting with or where the story is going to take us.
How do you prepare for and rehearse an improvised show?
You can’t really rehearse the show itself as we don’t know where it’s going to be set, what’s happened or who the characters are.
We do regularly workshop to develop our improvisation and performance skills. There’s a lot of playing around with characters, relationships and ways of building a story. We also make sure we’re really familiar with the structure of the show, because once you’re on stage you need to be able to concentrate on listening and responding rather than thinking, “What am I supposed to do next?”
A lot of it is also developing trust and openness with each other as performers so we can feel free to play together on stage, be creative and sometimes ridiculous to build fun scenes and a great story together.
What similarities have you noticed across different nights and iterations of the show?
The biggest similarity is probably that audiences are much more creative – and much stranger – than you expect!
There are certain things that seem to happen again and again. Someone will suggest an incredibly ordinary victim and then give them the most ridiculous occupation imaginable. Somebody will introduce a tiny throwaway detail that suddenly becomes absolutely central to the murder.
But underneath all of that, the thing that’s remained remarkably consistent is the chemistry of the group. The cast changes from time to time, but the show depends on people being willing to support each other.
And there’s always that wonderful moment at the end when the audience decides who the murderer is and we all have to collectively go, “Yes, obviously. This person has definitely been the murderer all along and now we’re going to explain how.
What was your experience of being a part of Crime Scene Improvisation at the Fringe this year?
This was our ninth year performing at Edinburgh and we absolutely love it! The audiences at the fringe are great, they come ready to be entertained and to have a good time. We’re so grateful to them for coming to see our show. We love that only them and us will ever experience that show and want it to be as memorable and enjoyable as possible.
After doing the show for so long, it’s also lovely to be able to appreciate the experience rather than just survive it. There’s still adrenaline, and there are still moments where I think, “Oh God, I don’t know what to do or say”, but there’s a real joy in knowing you’re surrounded by people you trust.
Also, it’s brilliant being able to go and see so many other wonderful shows and performers during the month. It’s the best time of year!
As one of the cofounders of Twisted Focus theatre company, writing and producing work, how different is your role there and how does it complement your career elsewhere?
They’re quite different sides of my brain, which I think is why I’ve always enjoyed doing both.
As an performer, I’m focused on happening in front of me – listening, responding, finding the character and telling the story.
With Twisted Focus and more recently with The Chandeliers (who also produce CSI) I’ve been part of writing and producing shows from scratch. This year we took, “The Secret Society” a brand new scripted immersive comedy show to the Edinburgh Fringe.
I enjoy the challenge of thinking about the whole thing: what story we want to tell, why we want to tell it, how we’re going to make it happen and how we get an audience to see it.
Producing has made me much more aware of the bigger picture as an actor, and improvisation has made me much more instinctive when I’m working creatively as a writer or producer.
What impact has the legacy of the show, which has been running for 12 years now, had on you?
I don’t think any of us imagined when we did that first show in 2014 that we’d still be doing it 12 years later. We started with this small idea of making an improvised murder mystery and, somehow, it has become a really significant part of all of our lives.
At the beginning, I was terrified not knowing what character I was playing or what my lines were. It was so different to all the acting I’d done previously. Now I love the freedom that brings to be creative.
But probably the biggest impact is my fellow cast members. We’ve shared an extraordinary number of stages, audiences, hilarious and completely unexpected moments with each other and some disasters too. There’s a particular kind of bond that comes from knowing that you might walk on stage with absolutely no idea what’s about to happen – and trusting that you’ll work it out together.