CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation will be making their debut at Underbelly Boulevard Soho on Friday 18 September as part of the Fringe Fix Festival, celebrating the best of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the heart of London.
Cast: Lee Apsey, Steve Bond, James Cann, Danielle Downey, Sarah Kempton, and Nicola Lucey
Read our Q&A with Sarah Kempton
Q: CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation has been running for more than 12 years. When you first created the show, what were your initial thoughts? Did you ever imagine it would have this kind of longevity?
Sarah: Yes and no…that’s nice and vague, isn’t it?! It never occurred to me that we would go on for so many years and 13 years ago there were very few long-form, theatrical-style improv shows. We really looked up to and admired ‘Showstopper’ and ‘Austentatious ‘; they showed what could be possible, where improv could go in the UK. But although we were having lots of fun, we were all ambitious about the show from day one; we worked really hard to constantly grow and push it.
Q: The audience helps create the crime, while even the cast don’t know who the killer is. How do you turn those audience suggestions into a coherent murder mystery in real time?
Sarah: Yes…it’s a fun one that! We have the audience suggestions and evidence in the back of our minds throughout, so if a chance comes to drop something in – great. But actually, counterintuitively, it’s better to just really listen and focus on your scene partner and slowly build the show together and not worry about planting too much evidence. Because it’s in the back of our minds, it organically comes out at points. If the characters and the story work, the mystery bits will just work.
Q: After performing the show for so long, how do you keep it genuinely fresh and make sure you aren’t falling back on familiar characters, jokes or plotlines?
Sarah: I think because the audience have so much input, it’s just not possible! One of the offers we get from the audience is the occupation of the victim, and that’s the world the show will be set in. We try and pick worlds we’ve not done before, but after 400 shows it happens!! We’ve done a lot of Archeologist shows, for example. But they are truly never the same; you have to be very ‘in the moment’ in improv, so the cast, venue, audience and other offers are all different, which immediately makes a unique fresh show. We have 11 members of CSI and 6 in each cast, so there are multiple combos of different brains at play!
Q: CSI is making its debut at Underbelly Boulevard Soho. How significant does it feel to bring the show to that venue, and what are you hoping London audiences will make of it?
Sarah: It’s a really exciting moment for us; performing in a venue like this in the heart of the West End is something we could only dream of when we started. The more improv gets to be performed in these mainstream comedy spaces, the better. We’ve been the scrappy underdogs of comedy for a long time, and it feels like improv is breaking through.
Q: Improvisation involves surrendering a huge amount of control as a performer. Is that uncertainty still exciting after 12 years, or are there moments when you think, “Where on earth do we go from here?”
Sarah: Haha! It really does, and let me tell you, I bloody love to be in control!! So improv is a beautiful relief for me, where I really can’t be! Those “what now” moments get far fewer as you get more experienced; in fact, they’re sort of the best bits – that’s where the new creative stuff can really kick in. This is also where team trust comes in; you’re not alone. But yes, when you start, that’s the scary bit. I teach improv in Wokingham, and people new to it often have these moments of “I don’t know what to say next” or try to just tell the other actor everything they want them to do, but what’s lovely is that as the trust starts to grow and as you realise you’re not up there alone, it melts and some really brilliant funny stuff happens.
Q: You’ve worked extensively as an actor and voice artist, including narrating more than 100 audiobooks. Do those different disciplines feed into your improvisation – particularly when it comes to creating characters and voices instantly?
Sarah: Yes, definitely, it’s also really nice for me to be out on a stage with real people rather than in a soundproofed room pretending to be loads of people! I actually think the main benefit goes the other way around; the improv has dramatically helped my acting and voice acting. It provides a freedom and confidence in yourself to be able to play. I used to get locked in auditions, desperate for my performance to be “right”; then with improv I learned to be able to throw away ideas, quickly create new ones, have the confidence to let stuff go wrong and make new choices. It’s the key to everything kids; take up improv.
Q: At a time when so much entertainment is scripted, edited and available on demand, what do you think audiences get from watching something completely spontaneous that will only ever happen once?
Sarah: I think exactly this is what will eventually push improv mainstream. “Why should I go out to the theatre when I have so much entertainment at home at my fingertips?” – because you cannot watch this at home; the danger and excitement and magic of being in the room watching the performers make something is part of it. And you help create it. Your suggestions, laughter, energy – it all goes into creating the show. It’s an experience as well as a show.
*****
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 will make its debut at Underbelly Boulevard Soho for Fringe Fix 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! CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation has won awards including the Comedy Award at Colchester Fringe 2024 and Best Improvisation at Leicester Comedy Festival 2023.
www.crimesceneimpro.com
Instagram: @CrimeSceneImpro
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https://underbellyboulevard.com/fringe-fix-2026/
