Miriam Trujillo
The stone arches of The Caves were an ideal setting for a little mystery…the mystery of whether three actors could convincingly pull off a completely improvised Sherlock Holmes story. Fortunately, the three actors, Caitlin Campbell, Tom Tokley, and Daniel Nils Roberts were witty, resourceful, relaxed and professional, making Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes was a delightful treat.
As the queue for the sold-out show stood waiting to be let into the venue, performers passed around pieces of paper asking audience members to think up a new title for a Sherlock Holmes mystery. As the audience seated itself, the performers collected the papers in a hat.
In the initial scene, set on a train, an eager fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories approaches a sleeping grumbling John Watson. The two started to discuss the adventures Watson had published, and the improv began. The performers picked slips out of the hat and discussed adventures to go along with titles such as “Sherlock Holmes and the Three Vikings”, and “Sherlock Holmes and the Eurovision Final”. With quick wit and imagination Campbell and Tokley, made up whole mysteries to go along with these titles, and the audience was in stiches.
That was nothing, though, to the improv skill Campbell, Tokley, and Nils Roberts really put to work when the fan on the train asked Watson to recount a story he’d never told before. Picking one more slip from the hat, the cast plunged into “The case of the Phlegmatic Turk”, and the chaos really began.
Using just that phrase, the cast made up a story about an estate of lords who rode around in swan-drawn carriages, hosted embassy balls, didn’t educate their children, and fought swans as a feat of strength. Add to that turkish carpets, fueding towns, secret affairs and, of course, murder, we really had a story on our hands. Out of all the madness, Campbell, Tokley, and Nils Robert tied enough of the details together to make a coherent plot…just barely. I was quite impressed. Campbell, Tokley, and Nils Robert clearly had a strong knowledge of the basic structure of a Sherlock Holmes story.
They were able to improv the kinds of detail, plot twists, and Victorian peculiarities that really evoked the classic mysteries. The final twist of the show, when the fan on the train reveals he is Sherlock himself, whom Watson thought was dead, was quite sweet and a nice callback to that scene in the series.
Campbell, Tokley, and Nils Robert also were clearly having a lot of fun. They had great chemistry with each other, gleefully, playing off of each other, incorporating each other’s mistakes into the story, breaking the fourth wall, throwing each other little challenges, and other things that demonstated how comfortable they were with the improv and with each other.
Their level of enthusiasm and confidence really helped the audience feel at ease in the madness. Improv can be awkward: If the performers cannot sell it, one hundred percent, with wit, quick timing, and confidence, the whole thing crumbles. Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes very much did not crumble. The actors painted a hilarious picture, and the audience was very pleased to go along.
There was very little to critique. Indeed the only thing I would mention was the story left the concept on the paper behind rather quickly. I was also a bit confused when they interpreted the word “Phlegmatic” (one of the title words) to mean someone who coughs a lot, instead of someone of a calm disposition. So the story they told in the end didn’t feel so much like “The Case of the Phlegmatic Turk” as much something else entirely. But that something else was so imaginative, well built, coherent (enough), and delightful, that I didn’t much care.
Recommended Drink: No drink. Only opium.
Adventures of the Improvised Sherlock Holmes is an annual occurrence at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Catch it in 2025.
Jake Mace
