Part of the appeal of a good murder mystery is the intricate plot: the gradual feeding of information to the audience, the carefully placed red herrings, the subtext-laden dialogue. How then is it possible to improvise a murder mystery?
Murder She Didn’t Write endeavours to do exactly that. With a clever format and sharp performers, a completely improvised comedy spoof of detective fiction unfolds before your very eyes.
The plot, naturally, is different every night, but is derived from an audience suggestion of a setting for the story, and an item you would not normally find in that setting. The edition I saw was “The Case of the Neon Batmobile”, which took place in—where else—the Highland Games. From this prompt, the five performers interact in a variety of scenes through which they develop, and we get to know their characters. At a certain point, an audience member chooses who will be murdered and who will be the murderer, which is revealed to the performers but not the rest of the audience.
Keeping things on track is our master of ceremonies, Detective Agatha Crusty, who introduces the show, coordinates the audience suggestions, and appears at the end to solve the murder based on the clues that come up during the improvisation. One of the most fun parts of the show is that Crusty will interrupt proceedings to comment on what’s happening and provide narration that the performers must follow in an attempt to challenge them and trip them up. For example, when one character mentions they are from the lowlands of Scotland, Crusty helpfully divulges that this character loves to sing their hometown’s ‘anthem’. In response, they cleverly sing a Scottish traditional version of the song ‘Low’ by Flo Rida.
No matter how conducive an improv format is for comedy, you still need talented performers, and Murder She Didn’t Write has them in spades. Not only do the cast display a razor-sharp wit, responding to prompts immediately, and they set up character traits and motives that make for a compelling mystery that actually makes you ask—whodunnit?
Murder She Didn’t Write is an impressive and reliably funny improv show.
