Review: Locomotive For Murder, VAULT Festival

I’ve had a bit of a murder filled week. Don’t panic. Nothing in the real world thank goodness. But I was at Agatha Christie’s iconic play The Mousetrap on Monday and have been reading a particularly tall, quiz show star’s latest murder mystery offering when I’m not at the theatre. So, it was with my sleuthing skills primed that I arrived at Pinch Punch’s latest show, Locomotive for Murder, The Improvised Whodunnit.

If you’re expecting a serious murder mystery, then this isn’t the show for you. But if you fancy laughing your socks off for an hour, then this is perfect. Pinch Punch make improv look easy, coping wonderfully with slightly questionable suggestions from the audience and hilarious contributions from their fellow cast members. And if they do happen to corpse, then all the better for us.

Every show is different, as the cast take their cues from the audience, plus there is a different victim and murderer for each performance, only revealed to the culprit themselves by a card once the murder has been committed – and yes, you do get to choose who gets murdered. This means we’re all working together to solve the crime, making for a whole bunch of communal fun.

One of the most impressive aspects of the show is the memory of the cast members, bringing up previous suggestions from the audience and puns to great effect. An audience member talks about a lilo on a beach, and later in the show Lottie Davies picks this up ingeniously, referring to a character lying low. We’re also treated to a hilarious story about an allergy that obviously causes Sam Martin’s character to sneeze when they’re near cheese. And David Fenne is almost responsible for me fully losing it at one point. This is the level of deliciously, silly humour you can expect to enjoy at the show.

The audience are very much involved, with suggestions required throughout, but for any introverts out there, there’s no need to panic. You’re not picked on and it feels like a safe space throughout. In fact, if you do happen to pluck up the courage to shout out, you’re sure to see your suggestion picked up repeatedly throughout the show. A reference to Richard III in a Leicester car park from one audience member, and another revealing themselves as a historian, provides ripe material for the cast who refer back to it with glee.

It seems a shame and rather pointless to reference the noise intrusions from the station and other venues at the Vaults repeatedly throughout the festival, however in this instance the train noises worked wonderfully well. With the show set on a train, the cast relish in finding different ways to reference the interruptions. It was also particularly poignant to hear Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) seeping through the wall from the bar at a climatic point in the show.

In our world of bleak news, and this seemingly never-ending bitterly cold winter, there’s nothing better than fully losing yourself for an hour. This really is a very funny show. There’s no need to dress it up – it’s pure, unadulterated fun but delivered by a clearly incredibly talented cast who are unfazed no matter what you decide to throw at them.

Devised and produced by: Pinch Punch Improv

Locomotive For Murder plays at VAULT Festival until 5 March. Further information and bookings can be found here.

The show will also play at various locations throughout the UK during 2023. All dates can be found on the company’s website here.

You can listen to our interview with the team talking about the show, making improv and some of the stranger suggestions they have received from the audience in our podcast here.