No two performances of CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation can ever really be the same because when the cast walks onto the stage, they don't even know who has been murdered, how they died or where the story is going to take them.
That job, at least at the beginning, is for the audience to decide.
The show kicks off with plenty of interaction as the audience is asked to decide important details about the deceased, including their name, occupation and how they met their unfortunate end. From there, the performers have to create and solve a murder mystery entirely on the spot.
It's a clever idea and, after more than 12 years of performances and sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, it is clearly one that works.
Friday night's performance at Underbelly Boulevard Soho featured a handful of performers from a wider cast which includes Lee Apsey, Steve Bond, James Cann, Kayleigh Cassidy, Isabelle Glinn, Sarah Kempton, Michael Kunze, Nicola Lucey, Mandeep Singh and Kelsey Yuhara. With no programme available on the night, it was difficult to identify exactly who was playing whom, but as an ensemble they worked well together, particularly when forced to react quickly to something another performer had unexpectedly thrown into the story.
And that's when the show is at its funniest.
Some of the on-the-spot gags were incredibly quick and clever, particularly when the performers had to somehow make an audience suggestion fit into whatever increasingly ridiculous situation they had created for themselves. Watching them try to get out of those situations is part of the fun. What was also great to see was how they weren't shy to admit when they were in difficult spots, trying to think of a joke or even stuck for how to move the plot along.
Not every joke landed though and there were moments that weren't particularly funny, although some audience members were in stitches, so clearly, comedy is subjective. When it did work, though, there were some genuinely funny moments.
There were also points where the scene-setting felt slightly more structured, almost as though there might be a back-up framework. But then again, maybe that's inevitable, having something to draw from when your brain freezes and the ideas disappear.
The relatively intimate setting of Underbelly Boulevard also suits this show. There's nowhere for the performers to hide and the audience feels close enough to the action to really feel part of it, especially given that they are the ones who set the initial scene.
CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation won't have you laughing at every single joke, but that's almost beside the point with a show created in the moment. Part of its appeal is watching talented improvisers take a collection of random ideas from strangers and somehow turn them into an entertaining murder mystery with a beginning, middle and end.
And the next time they perform, they'll have to do it all over again with an entirely different victim and crime.
Review: Sunita Jaswal