Review: CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation, Wilton’s Music Hall

A roomful of audience members and cast alike begin the show without a single person knowing where the next hour will take them. Instead, that choice was mine, and my neighbour’s, and the family’s sitting behind me. A longtime favourite at the Edinburgh Fringe, the multi-award-winning CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation is an entirely improvised crime comedy show, where the audience decides the victim, their profession (“No more strippers, please!”), and a fatal murder weapon. 

Our chosen victim was Clive Cabbage, a tour guide at the Natural History Museum, struck down whilst on shift by a potato to the head. With Nicole Lucey as the main detective, the audience is incorporated into the investigation as ‘Sergeant Derek’, leaving them unable to drift from the show’s reality for a moment in fear of losing track of valuable verbal clues. Alongside Lucey, we question each suspect in turn, with scenes intermittently playing out between interrogations to either bolster or ease our suspicions.

The snappy plot expanded from the original concept until it bloated into a comprehensible world. An alleged affair with another tour guide; a disgruntled, dispassionate husband; long-lost siblings who’ve been mistakenly getting together; a strange technique called ‘releasing’ which featured in multiple scenes and consisted of cast members trying to sit down and stand up at the same time. Kayleigh Cassidy delivered a standout performance, unafraid to lean into exaggerated naivety and appearing dedicated to physical comedy that had the audience cracking up. At points, cast members were unable to stay straight-faced themselves, and this only added to the feeling of everyone — cast, crew, and audience alike — playing an equal part in the story.

With a set consisting of two chairs and nothing more, it was, admittedly, too easy at times to lose track of where the characters were. The dialogue occasionally strayed, and some scenes became trapped in a cycle of repetition, beginning to self-cannibalise. Given the nature of improvisation, however, this somewhat added to the overall charm of the performance, with audience members only too eager to yell out, “But what’s that got to do with Clive?” playfully pulling the narrative back into focus. It was as much our show as it was the cast’s.

At its core, CSI is fun and collaborative, reminiscent of the half-baked, self-conscious plays performed at school, where classmates cat-called and you found yourself trying not to laugh while delivering devastating fictional news. Audiences feel entirely included, a notion carried out into the aftermath of the show, with strangers gathering at the intimate Wilton’s Music Hall bar to discuss who they thought had really committed the crime. Lucey led some miraculous and masterful redirection of overzealous hecklers, even managing to incorporate some of the more outrageous comments cleanly into the plot. 

An exhibition of some of the best in narrative improvisation, the show appeals to audiences because of its quick intelligence. The weaving of the crime plotline itself is truthfully less captivating than the cast’s ability to make you laugh with a line you know they came up with entirely in the moment. Silly, fun, and professionally clumsy, CSI earns its title as an innovative show. There’s something novel about the knowledge that no other audience will see your iteration of the show again. The next ‘Sergeant Derek’ will see a murder, a profession, and a weapon, but will never know the story of Clive Cabbage, tour guide, slain by an aptly thrown potato

Written & Co-created by Lee Apsey, Steve Bond, James Cann, Kayleigh Cassidy, Danielle Downey, Sarah Kempton, and Nicola Lucey

CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation has completed its performance at Wilton’s Music Hall.
Further UK dates include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from Friday 1 to Sunday 17 August.